The Silver Wolf
by Marlwolf
Summary: One night a silver wolf appears on Harry's doorstep, who sent it to him and why? Sirius is haunted by memories of his murdered fiancee, but so is Snape. What secrets did Enyana take to her grave? rated R for future violence
1. Painful Memories

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or places. However, anything not directly related to them are of my own creation, so  
please do not steal them.  
  
THE SILVER WOLF  
  
CHAPTER 1 - Painful Memories  
  
He held his breath, watching, waiting.  
  
The pretty woman in the long, white bridal gown, now his best friend's wife, was about to throw the bouquet. Although he was the best man this was the moment he had waited for. He bit his lip with nerves as she tossed it behind her. It was caught by a girl with long black hair and sapphire eyes that were freckled with the deepest shade of blue he had ever seen. Oh, how well he knew those eyes!  
  
The groom, the one with the untidy dark hair and brilliant green eyes, grinned at his bride and then at his best friend who was almost trembling with the tension of it all. The raven-haired girl looked down in surprise as the bouquet suddenly exploded in her hands leaving five words hanging on the air in rose petals: "Enyana - will you marry me?"  
  
The surviving white rose in her hands immediately bloomed to reveal a sparkling engagement ring.  
  
The girl stared speechless at it for a moment before announcing in a voice that threatened tears, 'Of course I will, Sirius, you silly bugger!' She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed happily into the shoulder of his best robes.  
  
But laughs and sobs turned into screams of pain, horrible, twisted, elongated shrieks of his name, calling for him to help her. She was crumbling in his hands. He tried to stop it, tried to put her back together, but she just disintegrated more and more until she was nothing but a pile of ash on the floor. A pile of ash crowned by a silver necklace and a broken wand.  
  
And in the background there was the cruel laughter of one who never laughed.  
  
Sirius awoke with a start. He was drenched in cold sweat and shaking from head to foot. He hadn't had that dream for years. Hadn't even dared to think about Enyana while in Azkaban knowing what ammunition it would have given the Dementors.  
  
But he missed her with every beat of his heart and she was not willing to leave his thoughts to rest, so he set about thinking over that last fateful night as if to find some clue he had missed before.  
  
He had been out all night celebrating with James. His son, Harry, had just been born so it was a true cause to get well and truly hammered in the name of wetting the baby's head.  
He dropped James off on his doorstep (literally) before muttering some excuse about going to see Enyana. It might be early in the morning, but if she'd got his owl she wouldn't be sleeping anyway. She'd also mentioned something about a meeting, so the chance was she was just as rat-arsed for the same reason. Most of her friends and family knew and liked James and Lily Potter and, just like him, it'd be a good excuse for a party.  
Enyana had just finished Hogwarts. She had passed with flying colours both on and off the Quidditch pitch having led Ravenclaw to win the House Cup two years in a row as Captain. Half the teams in England had offered her a tryout and she was looking forward to giving it her best shot as a professional player.  
He staggered off in the general direction of her house (which was thankfully quite near James's) humming loudly and tunelessly to himself. He didn't trust himself to Apparate in his present state - you never knew what might happen.  
  
If he'd thought that the fresh air might clear his head he was painfully mistaken. If anything it made him feel more drunk. He tripped over a couple of curbs ('Damn Muggle things!') and flattened a few ornamental shrubs ('Shouldn't have got in my way, should ya!') before arriving in Enyana's street.  
  
Almost immediately he could tell that something was wrong. People were crowding around her house, all pointing and talking. His heart turned to lead as he saw what they were pointing at. High above the house hovered a glittering green object in the shape of a skull with a snake for a tongue.  
  
The Dark Mark.  
  
The alcoholic haze fuzzing up his brain dispersed as he ran forward calling her name, first hoarsely then gaining strength, 'Enyana, En are you there?'  
  
People stood aside for him, but for one right in front of the door who looked like a shaved gorilla in wizard's robes. Sirius's dark curls had fallen wildly across his face and the ape at the door stared at him suspiciously, 'Where's Enyana, is she okay?'  
  
The man just carried on staring until another came out from behind him, 'It's all right, Ross, he's Sirius Black. My lad went to school with him. He didn't have anything to do with this.'  
  
With what, he wanted to shout, but he had gone strangely numb. The second man was obviously from the Ministry, but he couldn't put a name to the face as the man put a hand around his shoulders. Instead he just asked, 'Enyana?'  
  
'What was she to you, son?'  
  
Was? 'My fiancée.' Sirius noticed for the first time that he had been skilfully steered away from the door.  
  
The Ministry wizard patted him on the back and shook his head. 'I'm so sorry,' he murmured.  
  
'No!' he screamed. His head raging with grief and disbelief, he shook off the man's grip and ran into the house all the time calling her name, praying that she'd answer him. He stopped abrubtly at the entrance to the front room. Inside it was littered with bodies.  
  
Time slowed down as he stared. All her family was there - mother, father, little brother Andras, Aunt Dorea and some friends, some who he knew, others he didn't. Their meeting appeared to have been terribly disturbed. He scanned all the dead faces but could find no trace of his love.  
  
Something shiny caught his eye. He walked across the room, trying hard not to stare at the fear-frozen faces all around him, his shoes blasphemously loud against the wooden floorboards in the silent domain of death.  
  
He bent down and saw what he had noticed half-buried in a small heap of dust. He gently grasped it and picked it up, a fine chain unravelling from within the ash. He recognized it at once. It was the silver locket he had given Enyana for her eighteenth birthday. He knew it from the picture of a wolf on the front. Enyana had always loved wolves, that's why she got on with Remus so well. She was one of the few who, apart from the rest of the Marauders, hadn't spurned him when she found out what he was. In fact it made them closer friends.  
  
Her locket was bewitched to record the last words of love they said to each other. Tonight it read "Sirius, never forget me, I love you forever." They must have been nigh on her last words for only last night it had said something quite different.  
  
Atop of the pile were the shards of a broken wand, the inner core of a type of hair now showing clearly, its magic expired with its owner. Enyana's wand. He held the locket close to his chest and wept tears of rage and grief that she could have been so quickly and forcefully taken from him. Tears that mingled with grey ash.  
  
The man from the Ministry led him gently away. He never looked back. His last and lasting memory of her was a silver locket and a broken wand sitting on the cinders that had once been her beautiful body.  
  
Tears rolled down Sirius's thin face at the painful memory of it. Even after all these years the grief had not dulled. He had a lot of vengeance to take for one so young, first Wormtail for Lily and James and then Enyana's killers, I they were still around. He had a fair idea that they were, one at least. One who'd wanted to punish Enyana for spurning him, the one who's laugh echoed in his dreams. Now that would be the sweetest revenge of all. 


	2. From the Burrow to the Letterbox

CHAPTER 2 - From the Burrow to the Letterbox  
  
For once Harry Potter was having a good holiday. He needed a really good break after all the trauma of last year at Hogwarts. The Triwizard Cup, Cedric Diggory, Voldemort's return, all held painful memories that he didn't need playing around in his head simply because there was nothing else to think about. You'd have thought he'd have suffered enough for one fifteen year old boy in losing his parents and having to live with the Dursleys, but no, life, it seemed, still had plenty more crap to throw at him. He'd just better make himself a moving target and make it a bit more difficult for all the shit to get him in its sights.  
  
Staying with the Weasleys made up a bit for the horrible two weeks he'd spent at Privet Drive. His heart had leapt with joy when the invitation to live with them at their ramshackle house in Ottery St Catchpole, and had felt even better when the Dursleys had said yes (any excuse to get rid of him). Dumbledore had wanted Harry to at least stay with the Dursleys for part of the holidays, but he must have given the all clear for the Weasleys to invite Harry over.  
  
At least now he could discuss with Ron about how he had received the strangest birthday present of his life, weirder even than the ones Hagrid normally sent him. The Dursleys never gave him anything anyway so it was no surprise when he got nothing from them. Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, Sirius and even Lupin and Dobby had all sent their presents by Owl Post as usual and he was busy unwrapping them in the dead of night (the Dursleys would have definitely nicked them if they knew that he did get birthday presents!) when he heard a strange noise from downstairs, like someone trying to shove something too large through the letterbox. It couldn't be any of the Dursleys - he could hear their triple-toned snores shaking the house.  
  
Opening his door silently so as not to wake his so called family ('As if they'd hear it over those snores,' he thought to himself,) and crept downstairs. What met his eyes was far more bizarre than he'd have ever imagined.  
  
Wriggling half in and half out of the letterbox was a rabbit!  
  
The rabbit suddenly stopped moving as if it had seen him, but that was impossible, Harry thought, because he could see from the way it flopped limply from the slot that it was dead. Whoever was trying to push it through must have heard him. This was the sort of thing Hagrid would send him, except that he would do it by owl and not try to shove it through the letterbox.  
  
Over the Durselys immense racket that seemed to be increasing by the second, he couldn't hear any more, although whoever had been trying to push it through appeared to have gone.  
  
Harry opened the front door to see the rear end of the rabbit dangling on the other side and a small, badly-wrapped, blood-speckled package on the doorstep with almost illegible scrawl doodled on it, from which he could just make out the words "Happy Birthday Harry" on it.  
  
Carefully removing the rabbit from the letterbox (he could just imagine Aunt Petunia's screams if he left it there, but decided against it because he'd only get the blame and it wasn't worth it) and hoped it wouldn't leave bloodstains down the immaculate varnish of the front door before taking both it and the parcel upstairs.  
  
He dumped the rabbit in Hedwig's cage and received a hoot of thanks from her as she bent her beak to eat it. Then Harry sat down on his bed and examined the package. It was wrapped in pages of The Daily Mail and tied together with short pieces of red and blue baling twine. The writing had obviously been done in green felt-tip pen which had appeared to have run out half way through the word Birthday and it had been swapped to blue crayon. It didn't look like anything a wizard would have done, but what Muggle would have sent him a birthday present?  
  
He cut the knotted twine with the 241 use penknife that Sirius had given him, which apart from the usual knife, corkscrew etc also held many other things on it like broomstick clippers, flame-thrower, dragon scarer and various other fascinating things.  
  
The newspaper fell away from what it was containing - a sculpture of a wolf made out of what looked like tinfoil. It was about the size of Harry's hand and almost perfect in its features. It must've taken whoever made it weeks to mould so beautifully. The fact that it didn't move convinced Harry that it wasn't a wizard who sent it, but that just made the mystery deeper. Still, even though it didn't move, if it weren't made of foil Harry could've almost sworn that it was real.  
  
'That's it?' Ron's freckled brow was lined in puzzlement. 'No note, no explanation, no saying who it's from, just a dead rabbit and a silver wolf?'  
  
The silver wolf sat side by side on Ron's windowsill with a miniature model of a dragon - a Hungarian Horntail to be precise - Harry's souvenir from the first task of the Triwizard Cup. It eyed the wolf evilly and flexed its black wings before apparently deciding that the wolf, lifeless as it was, was too big for it to take on, at least for now.  
  
'Yep, that's it. I thought it might be Hagrid having a laugh at first, but it's not his style.'  
  
'You don't think it's a kind of threat, do you?'  
  
Harry could remember stories about the Muggle Mob putting horse's heads in peoples beds, but a rabbit through a letterbox didn't quite hold the same menace. 'I don't think so. Fancy a game of Quidditch?'  
  
'As long as I can have a go on your Firebolt!'  
  
Harry's Firebolt was his most prized possession - the best broomstick that money could buy. Sirius had given it to him for Christmas a couple of years back. It was definitely more than Ron could afford, so it made him happy just having a go on it every now and then.  
  
As they left Ron's room, Firebolt in hand, Harry looked back and thought for a moment that the silver wolf was looking at him.  
  
'Come on, Harry!' Ron yelled. Harry told himself he was being stupid and went outside with Ron.  
  
The holidays passed uneventfully in long days of sunshine, good food and plenty of fun. At the end of it all Harry was almost sorry to go back to Hogwarts, he'd never felt so much like a part of a family in all his life. His only real family, he never counted the Dursleys in this, was his Godfather, Sirius, who was still on the run from Azkaban, the wizard prison, after escaping imprisonment for multiple murder, none of which he committed.  
  
When the morning of September 1st rolled around, the day to go back to school, it was the traditional madcap rush to pack anything they had forgotten into the trunks before they left ('Ginny, have you seen my toothbrush?' 'Look at this hole in my robes!' 'Fred, did you put these dungbombs in my shoes?')  
  
But all seemed to fall magically into place - the arrived just in time for the train on platform nine and three-quarters, met Hermione on the platform before all three sat down in a free compartment on the Hogwart's Express. As usual Harry bought the traditional stack of cauldron cakes on the train, despite being loaded down with sandwiches by Mrs Weasley.  
  
The letterbox incident cropped up again and Hermione's reaction was exactly what they had both expected. 'You really ought to tell someone, Harry. After all, with You Know Who back again you never know who might have taken it upon themselves to, well, you know.' She didn't need to say 'kill you' because they all knew very well. Then, after a pause, she added, 'Can I see it?'  
  
'The rabbit? No, Hedwig ate it, plus it'd stink to high heaven by now if I'd have kept it.'  
  
'Harry, don't be an idiot, you know I meant the wolf.'  
  
Harry dug around in his trunk until he found the little silver wolf. He'd kept it and the Horntail apart. He didn't trust the lizard one bit. Harry handed it to Hermione who examined it carefully. It stood upon three legs, one front paw raised, as it howled at the moon. 'It's really beautiful, Harry. It looks almost lifelike. Look, you can see the teeth in its mouth and everything. Are you sure there's no spells on it?'  
  
'Nothing's happened so far, but we'll all keep an eye on it.'  
  
The train began to slow down as it came near to Hogsmeade station. A familiar loud, arrogant voice drifted into their compartment, '.Of course my father was outraged. To think that someone would have the nerve to steal it from our mansion. Still, I'm not surprised, it's probably worth twice all that the Weasleys own. It wouldn't shock me one little bit if it was them that stole it just to get their hands on the reward money, it's 700 Galleons.'  
  
Ron had flushed to the roots of his hair, so red, in fact, that it put his loose mop to shame. It always touched a nerve when someone made fun of his family's lack of funds.  
  
'Don't worry, Ron, your family's worth twice what Malfoy's is,' Harry said kindly, but he really meant it.  
  
Ron tried to brush off his embarrassment, 'Yeah, I know. I wouldn't have his sour-faced old witch for a mother if you paid me a million Galleons.'  
  
Hermione, however, was being thoughtful again, 'I wonder what Malfoy's dad had stolen that was worth so much?'  
  
'Probably some other piece of Voldemort memorabilia, like that diary,' Harry said, remembering the Chamber of Secrets incident without much relish as the Express pulled into the station. 


	3. Back to School Again

CHAPTER 3 - Back to School Again  
  
The riddle of the sliver wolf was still the main topic of conversation as the trio left the train and got into the horseless carriages that took them up to the castle. It hadn't changed one bit. They sat down at the Gryffindor table, all the time greeting their friends.  
  
Harry scanned the top table and saw all the usual faces - Dumbledore, with perhaps a few worry lines on his face, Flitwick, Sprout and the rest. Snape was looking as malevolent as was normal. There was an empty chair - the Defence Against the Dark Arts position had apparently not been filled - along with McGonagall's seat. She must be meeting the first years at the entrance. Some things really never change.  
  
'Speak of the devil,' Harry thought as every head in the Great Hall turned to see Professor McGonagall leading the new students straight down the centre. All the first years looked rather pale and nervous except for the odd one or two who looked like nothing on this earth could possibly faze them.  
  
Professor McGonagall placed an old, battered hat on an equally old and battered stool. It was always fun to see the new kids react when the hat opened what appeared to be a rip near the brim and being to sing:  
  
'Oh, I may not be handsome,  
My skin holds no surprise,  
But I'll pay a king's ransom  
For a hat more old and wise.  
The Founders four they made me  
When their task here was done,  
To carry on their dynasty,  
Of their Houses once they were gone.  
In Ravenclaw the pupils are  
High flyers to the core,  
In Ravenclaw you will get far  
If intelligence you store.  
In Hufflepuff, Fair Hufflepuff,  
The zealous find their place,  
For the steady and the tough  
Whose diligence is their grace.  
In Slytherin the aspiring  
Will find they fit in best,  
For those keen folk are desiring  
To outstrip all the rest.  
Or maybe yet in Gryffindor  
Is where your heart rings true,  
Where those lions of valour  
Will do their best for you.  
So put me on and don't be shy  
To find where you belong,  
And see within whose House you'll fly  
For I am seldom wrong.'  
  
The Great Hall immediately burst into applause, which just as quickly died down as Professor McGonagall unrolled the parchment of names and lifted the Sorting Hat off the stool.  
  
'Aaron, Jeremy!'  
  
A thin, strawberry-blonde boy walked tremblingly up to the stool. The Sorting Hat was placed on his head and announced as 'GRYFFINDOR!', the Gryffindor table erupted into cheers and the year truly began.  
  
To be honest, Harry wasn't really paying much attention, he was lost in his own daydreams. He clapped when Ron did, but didn't hear the names of those who joined Gryffindor House. It wasn't until McGonagall read one name out that he woke up a bit.  
  
'Finnigan, Aisling!'  
  
'Seamus, is she anything to do with you?' Ron asked.  
  
'Aye, she's my little sister.'  
  
Harry looked at the girl now mounting the platform and liked her immediately. She had chestnut brown hair with red streaks working their way through it and stunning grey eyes. She was confidently smiling, she obviously didn't care which house she was put into, but the grin grew wider when the hat shouted 'RAVENCLAW!'  
  
'She was always the smart one, so my Mam always said, she'll be well pleased!'  
  
The Sorting continued and the column grew shorter as the newbies found their places at the house tables. With 'Zacher, Allesandra!' 'SLYTHERIN!' the Sorting was done and Professor McGonagall removed both stool and hat. When she returned and took her seat at the top table, Professor Dumbledore stood up.  
  
'Welcome, students new and old. Before we eat I must make a couple of announcements. The Dark Forest is out of bounds to all students, as are the castle corridors at night. These rules will be more strictly enforced this year due to exceptional circumstances.'  
  
Harry didn't need any further explanation, nor did any who were at Hogwarts at the end of last year. There were a few loud sniffs as those who had known Cedric Diggory well still got tearful at the vaguest mention of his murder last year. Only the first years looked a bit baffled. The Ministry still hadn't released the information about Voldemort's return. Harry could imagine from what Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, had said while he was in the Hospital Wing that probably very few of the Ministry officials, including Fudge himself, believed that He Who Must Not Be Named had returned. God help them all when he made it known to the world.  
  
'As yet we have no Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, ('I wonder why,' Ron whispered to Harry,) so I myself shall be filling that position, along with a very good teacher whom most of you already know, until a permanent teacher can be found.' Harry couldn't help noticing the smug look on Snape's pointed face. 'I have only one thing left to say - Tuck in!'  
  
The gold plates in front of them filled immediately with the most delicious looking food. Everyone helped themselves to their favourites and talked to their friends, indulging in all the luxuries that Hogwarts had to offer.  
  
As Harry closed the curtains of his four-poster bed that night, he couldn't help thinking how much he felt like he was home and that there was no safer or better place he would rather be. 


	4. Edith, Spud, Nelly and Marlene

CHAPTER 4 - Edith, Spud, Nelly and Marlene  
  
Despite the drizzling rain, breakfast was as good as ever. Bacon, eggs, toast, cereal, porridge and all manner of things soon disappeared down hundreds of hungry mouths.  
  
New timetables were handed out and were greeted with a loud shout of, 'Yes!' by Ron.  
  
'What?'  
  
'We don't have Potions with the Slytherins this year! We've got the Hufflepuffs instead!'  
  
'Brilliant!'  
  
Even the prospect of the first lesson of History of Magic with Professor Binns took on a new optimistic light. This was soon dissipated by the lesson itself, the tedious ghost teacher droning on about past Ministers of Magic and key decisions and events made in each of their respective terms of service.  
  
By the end, most of the class wasted to bang their heads against their desks or peel the skin off their bodies just to take their minds off his monotonous voice that bored its way into their very skulls and made them want to scream.  
  
'At least we've got Hagrid next. That should wake us up a bit.'  
  
'Yeah, if it doesn't kill us first. Wonder what deadly creature he's got lined up for us this term.'  
  
Harry found that time has the annoying habit of slowing down and almost coming to a halt when waiting for something as dull as Binns's lectures to come to an end. But come to an end at last it did and all three of them rushed outside to get a bit of fresh air. Even Hermione had found it incredibly, mind-numbingly boring, but the lesson was soon, thankfully, forgotten as they walked across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. The rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to break through the hanging cloud.  
  
Waiting outside of Hagrid's humble quarters were two fairly large wooden boxes that Hagrid appeared to be talking into. He stood up and waved at them, 'Hello, you three. I've got somethin' nice an' easy fer you today as it's yer first day back.' He indicated the boxes with a sweep of one of his huge hands. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, wondering what Hagrid's perception of "nice an' easy" would be.  
  
'I just hope it's not more Skrewts,' Harry whispered to his friends. He wasn't in the mood to visit the hospital wing (maybe not in one piece) on the first day back.  
  
'Not likely,' said Hermione, 'they'd have incinerated those boxes by now.'  
  
The rest of the class wandered up a few moments later, carrying with them a voice made unpleasant by the mocking tone it held, 'I wonder what vicious monster the big oaf will be trying to kill us with today? A Lethifold? An Acromantula? Or perhaps a nice, friendly Nundu?'  
  
It always riled Harry the way that Malfoy spoke about Hagrid, although most of them felt the same way about the terrifying monsters that Hagrid seemed to find amusing, 'Nice to see you've been doing your homework for once, Draco.'  
  
'Shut it, Potter!'  
  
'Now that you're all here,' Hagrid beamed at them all, except for a slight sideways look at Malfoy, 'I've got somethin' to show yer.'  
  
Hagrid bent down, unlatched the lid of one of the boxes, put his hand in and drew out a very odd-looking creature. Its long, serpentine body was solid chocolate brown in colour, the only exceptions being creamy patches on its face and chest. It almost seemed to be smiling at them, but that was disconcerting in itself because of the two dagger-like fangs that sat over its bottom lip. The only way that Harry could describe it was like a monstrously oversized ferret.  
  
Bright, jet black eyes blinked owlishly in the light and scanned the faces in front of as it dangled from Hagrid's fist. Finally its gaze settled on the disgusted sneer radiating from Malfoy. 'Whachoo starin' at, rat-face?' it shrieked.  
  
The whole class stood speechless for a moment before dissolving into laughter, all except Malfoy and his cronies.  
  
The creature looked very pleased with itself as it licked its dark nose with a quick, pink tongue. Hagrid stroked its head as he talked, 'Aye, I should have warned ye about that. This here's a Jarvey. They can talk a bit, but it tends just to be insults so I wouldn't go tryin' to start up a conversation with one. They're pretty useful if you get an infestation of gnomes, nothing'll clear 'em up faster. Lot's o' country folk keep jarveys for that very reason, so you'd best learn how t' handle 'em.  
  
'Now Edith here's a jill, that means she's a female. They tend to be a fair whack smaller than the hobs, that's the boys. Harry, will you hold Edith while I get Spud out? Come on, don't be shy.'  
  
'Not scared, are you, Potter?'  
  
'Not as scared as you, rat-face!'  
  
Hagrid held the jarvey out and instructed him on how to hold her. 'That's it, Harry. Jus' hold her along yer arm like a baby. Look, everybody, Harry's a natural, that's the way to hold a jarvey if you don't want to get bitten. You should always hold a jarvey like that if you don't know it. Edith here's as gentle as a kitten, but there's lots who aren't.' Everyone made a mental note of the way Harry was holding her, except for Malfoy and the Slytherins who stared scornfully at the whole thing.  
  
The jarvey lay peacefully along Harry's arm, in face she took the whole thing up from the tips of his fingers to where her head peered over his elbow. There was an extra third of her body-length in tail hanging down from his hand. Hagrid reached into the other box and drew out another jarvey, except that this one was pure white with pink eyes. If they thought that Edith was large, Spud was something else altogether. Including his tail he was almost three and a half feet long and was nowhere near as docile.  
  
'I'd like ye all to meet Spud. ('Get off me, hairy!') He's probably about the biggest that jarveys get, where as Edith's about the smallest, though hobs are nearly always bigger than the jills.'  
  
'What're we supposed to do with these things?' As usual, Malfoy's complaining voice was the first to raise an issue.  
  
'Today we're goin' to start off with the basics. We're takin' 'em for a walk!' From one of his massive pockets, Hagrid produced a tangled mass of leather harnesses and leashes. 'Harry, Ron and Hermione, you take Edith. Here, that's hers. Who wants Spud?' Not a single hand went in the air. 'Nobody, okay, you three there can have him. Just talk to him a bit, make friends with him first. That's very important. If you want to do anything with a jarvey, it's got to trust you first. Hold him a sec, I'll get the others out.' Hagrid passed Spud over to Lavender Brown and her friends who watched the jarvey mistrustfully and tried to hold him like Harry was holding Edith. He then opened other compartments in the boxes and drew out three more jarveys in one go - a light, sandy coloured one, an almost black one and a silvery one, all only slightly bigger than Edith.  
  
'Here, this is Nelly,' he said passing over the sandy jarvey, 'and Avril,' away went the black, 'and Malfoy, this is Marlene. Just take some time to pet them, let them get to know you a bit. Once you're friends with your jarvey you can put the harnesses on them. I think you three are ready with Edith now.'  
  
The brown jarvey was now nuzzling Harry's robes affectionately in between licking Ron and Hermione's hands. The harness slipped easily over the jarvey's head and front legs and would have been more quickly buckled if she hadn't started trying to discover what was over Harry's shoulder. The leash clipped easily to a small ring on the cross-over.  
  
'Brilliant!' Hagrid said, clapping all three on the back, 'You can put her down now and walk her.' Hagrid was distracted by a scream coming from Lavender's direction. 'Don' worry, he won't bite, Parvati, just grab a firm hold of him round his shoulders, that's it. Much better. Marlene!' Hagrid noticed a silvery streak disappearing into the distance. He fumbled around for a small whistle and blew it. There was an immediate change in the jarvey's demeanour, they were fixated on Hagrid, desperately trying to get to him. The distant bluish shape became bigger as Marlene came running back to Hagrid, her back arched and tail fluffed out. He picked her up and stroked her head and shoulders. 'Good girl, yeah, my good girl.' He fed her a piece of meat taken from another of his gargantuan pockets. 'You gotta be really careful with these things. They'll take any opportunity to escape. Lucky I got mine trained to come back to a whistle.'  
  
He handed the silver jarvey back to Malfoy, but Harry had a sneaking suspicion that it hadn't been an accident. It was just the sort of thing Malfoy would do - let one of Hagrid's prized jarveys go just to spite him.  
  
The lesson passed without further incident and most people had actually come to quite like the jarveys in the time they spent with them - their occasional rude phrases were stored up for later use on others, some of them being quite witty but most just swearing.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
The first few weeks of term flew by as they always did and it soon felt like they hadn't had a summer holiday at all. September gave way to October and before they knew it Halloween was creeping up on them, being only a week away. The weather grew colder and the rain became more frequent and gnome-hunting trips with the jarveys became a bit of a chore.  
  
The first frost came that week before Halloween. The night was clear and bright, the moon a day away from being full, when the ice formed on the grass. It was not cold enough yet to freeze even the edges of the lake and one creature was particularly thankful for it.  
  
Far out in the middle of the dark waters, right between the two shores at the lakes deepest part, there were ripples that caught the moons light. Someone was swimming. Swimming her pain away, swimming away from her fears towards the one place she felt she could go in safety.  
  
The castle loomed up darkly against the clear night, but she was tired, oh so tired. The chill waters were finally taking their numbing effect on her body, freezing her bones and muscles, making it difficult to take another stroke.  
  
Her limbs lost all feeling and she knew her effort was in vain. Her own thick fur that had kept her warm for so long was pulling against her, dragging her down into the icy, deep black waters. With her last grain of strength she tipped her head back to look at the stars, so beautiful, so unreachable, before she sank down under the silky, unforgiving water.  
  
The air bubbles escaping from her nose and fur created new stars in the clear sub aqua world. But if they never found her body, never knew where she had gone, then she would be happy and it had all been worth it. But one thought pushed its way into her dying brain, a face that would remain with her as long as her heart lived. Then everything went beautifully and mercifully black. 


	5. The Fugitive

CHAPTER 5 - The Fugitive  
  
The frost was just lifting when Ron, Hermione and Harry walked down to Hagrid's hut. They'd received a note from him at breakfast asking them to come and help him with something urgent. Seeing as they had an hours free lesson and not too much work they replied that they would.  
  
The hems of their robes soaked up the melting ice and swished wetly around their legs. Hagrid was already waiting outside for them with Fang, his trusty boarhound.  
  
'What's up, Hagrid?'  
  
'It's Spud. I went out to feed 'im this mornin', but the wire was hangin' loose off his hutch. He must've forced it open somehow. The jills were still all there, but Spud weren't, little bugger. I've been whistlin' fer 'im all mornin', but still no sign of 'im. I was wonderin' if yer could 'elp me look fer 'im.'  
  
The tightness around Hagrid's jaw showed how worried he was, despite trying to sound light-hearted about the whole thing. The three couldn't help but agree to search with him.  
  
'Sure. A three foot ferret who's also as white as the driven snow. How could you miss him? I'm sure it won't take too long, especially if we split up.'  
  
Tears of gratitude pricked at the corners of Hagrid's eyes, he was easily moved to tears where his animals were concerned, so they made their way off before he started blubbering for real.  
  
Harry went down to the edge of the lake. A slight breeze rippled its surface and small smoky wisps of mist floated into the air as the bright sun began to warm the water. All the frost had melted, and had also appeared to have soaked into his robes, the lower part looking shiny from all the thaw water sitting coldly there. It was at times like these that Harry forgot all his troubles, all his past, the world was too peaceful for anything bad to happen in it. These were the times he wished would go on forever, alone in the world of nature with nothing but the uplifting sound of birds to disturb the stillness. Nothing but birds and. swearing? And very high-pitched swearing at that.  
  
Spud.  
  
Following the profanities, Harry noticed the arch-backed jarvey leaping and capering around a large stone, half in and half out of the water, cursing at it for all he was worth, his fur standing up in spikes and occasionally nipping at the rock.  
  
Sneaking up on the distracted creature, Harry seized him around his broad shoulders with both hands. The jarvey screeched loudly in surprise before redirecting his insults at Harry, 'Stupid bloody scar-head! Shit-breath! Arsebiscuit!' and scrabbled madly at thin air without even pausing to take a breath.  
  
'Shut up Spud. I'm taking you back to Hagrid.'  
  
Still grumbling, the jarvey settled down a bit letting his body dangle with his tail just hovering above the ground. Harry was just about to set back to Hagrid's when he caught a quick glimpse of the rock that Spud had been so involved in offending. It was an even brownish green and almost smooth, but for about halfway down it where it was jagged and spiky. Beneath these spikes it looked almost blue. Blue-black definitely. Harry tied a bit of loose string around Spud's thick neck in a rough form of lead so he could examine the rock more closely. The jarvey seemed to have lost all interest now he had been caught.  
  
Harry put his hand on the spiky bit and the bank mud crumbled off in his hand leaving a soft layer underneath it. A layer that was mottled blue- black in colour and unlike anything he had ever seen on a rock before. It was fur and this was obviously no rock.  
  
He broke off more of the outer layer of mud to reveal more of the startling fur beneath. He eventually found the creature's head tucked somewhere beneath one of its back legs. He cleared off more of the clinging mud to see a wolf-like face with the most stunning markings he had ever seen. The fur had clear definitions between the blue and the black creating a swirling, marbled pattern. A black streak divided the face straight down between its closed eyes to the tip of its coal black nose and had two stripes crossing the centre line across the muzzle. Curved patches of white extended in two identical flashes underneath its eyes and in a broad band from its chin, down its throat until it disappeared under the mud.  
  
'The lake must've washed it up,' Harry thought aloud, 'Shame though.' He cleared the last traces of mud from its nostrils before laying its head back down on the soft mud. He looked at it longingly, thinking of what an animal it must've been when it was alive, when he noticed something strange - the mud beneath its muzzle was rippling slightly as if from a breeze. He immediately knelt down beside it and put the back of his hand against its nostrils. It was breathing, almost imperceptibly, but it was alive!  
  
Grabbing Spud with both hands, Harry ran as fast as he could back to Hagrid's. Ron was already there.  
  
'I see you found him, Harry. What's the panic?'  
  
'Panting hard, Harry gasped out as much of the situation as he could, 'Found Spud. something else too. wolf thing. thought dead. but breathing. alive. Where's Hagrid?'  
  
'Dunno. He's not back yet.'  
  
'Come on, we've got to find him. It'll die.'  
  
'What'll die?'  
  
'You'll see.'  
  
Harry shoved Spud into one of the crates Hagrid had used on the first lesson and slammed down the lid. They set off to find Hagrid, seeing his huge frame at last at the edge of the Forest.  
  
'Hagrid, we've found him, it's all right. But you've gotta come down to the lake, there's something there.'  
  
'Really, you found Spud? What sort of thing?'  
  
'It looks like a wolf or something, but it's blue.'  
  
'Blue?' Ron and Hagrid said at the same time.  
  
'Yes, blue, and black and white. Come on, I think it's going to die unless we do something soon.'  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
The trio hurried down to the lake. The creature hadn't moved from where Harry had left it. Hagrid examined it quickly with expert hands.  
  
'Do you know what it is, Hagrid?'  
  
'Aye, I know what this is. It's a rith.'  
  
'A what?' asked Harry.  
  
'A rith, it's a bit like a dog but they normally stand on two legs. The best way you can describe them is as a domesticated werewolf.'  
  
'Werewolf? But werewolves are mostly human, this has fur.'  
  
'They've been bred like that to make the collection of hair and blood easier, it's almost fatal to try it with a fully changed werewolf, so riths were made. Lots of wizards keep them as pets, show 'em an' all. Wonder what happened to this one. Poor thing.' Hagrid stroked the rith's head before lifting it easily into his strong arms. 'We'd best get it somewhere warm before it dies of cold.'  
  
Ron and Harry walked back to the hut with Hagrid, the rith flopping limply in the huge mans grasp. Hermione was waiting for them on his doorstep. 'Where've you two been? I've been waiting for ages. We're going to be so late for Potions, Snape's going to be furious. What's that?' Hermione said, noticing the rith for the first time.  
  
'Come on, Hermione, we'll explain on the way. Good luck, Hagrid.'  
  
Hermione was right as usual. Snape was furious, but seemed immensely pleased in handing out detentions to all three, and an extra one to Harry because of the state of his robes from where he'd been with the rith down at the lake. It could have been worse, though, at least they didn't have the Slytherins gloating at them.  
  
At lunchtime they bolted own their food and rushed down to Hagrid's. They knocked furiously on the door before Hagrid opened it with furious shushing noises. He let them silently in with his finger to his lips, trying to make them be silent.  
  
Stretched out in front of the fire was the rith. Hagrid had obviously spent a lot of time grooming it and had got rid of all traces of the mud that had so thoroughly caked its body. They could see that the marbled pattern of blue and black that had marked its face continued all the way along its body, as did the vertical stripe that bisected its head. Its four feet were completely black and the tip of its tail was snowy white. Tufts of long, white hair stood up from the points of its pricked ears, which were black, but edged in white. All in all it was a very attractive creature.  
  
'I'd like you three to meet Storm.'  
  
The riths head raised from its front paws and turned to look at them, from where it had previously been staring into the flames. Its eyes were as blue as its coat, perhaps a shade darker, and full of fear. They saw its body tense up, its meagre muscles bunching as if to flee. Hagrid went over immediately to sooth her.  
  
'Shush now, my good girl, they won't hurt you. They're friends, friends, you understand me? There's a good girl, you relax.'  
  
They saw the rith's taught muscles ease as Hagrid stroked her head. He motioned them to come over, which they did, although cautiously. The rith didn't seem to know what to do, whether to run from them or stay with Hagrid. She chose to just get closer to the one friend she appeared to have.  
  
'Put out your hands, let her get your scent so she knows you're friends.'  
  
Unwilling to put out any fleshy portion of their bodies towards a creature friendly with Hagrid, they still did so, noting the still resident in the creature's eyes.  
  
It apprehensively extended its muzzle and sniffed gently. Its tail wagged slightly and they put their hands on her to stroke her. They could feel every bone, every joint and painfully little muscle. This was a creature who had obviously not eaten in a good while. Hagrid laid her head down on the fur rug as her eyes hooded and she fell into an exhausted sleep. They moved away to let the poor animal rest and went outside.  
  
No one seemed to know what to say, so Hagrid spoke first, 'I've gotta find out who her owner is, I'm sure they'll be looking for her. She's a valuable animal.'  
  
'But there's something wrong, isn't there?' Hermione had picked up on the trace of doubt in Hagrid's voice.  
  
'Riths don't usually run away, they're very loyal creatures.'  
  
'So, you think she's been dumped?'  
  
'No, I don't think so.'  
  
'What then?'  
  
'You saw how afraid she was of you. When she first woke up she went nuts, absolutely nuts, trying to bite everyone and everything just trying to escape, but she could hardly walk.'  
  
'So, you think.'  
  
'I think something so bad happened to her that's she's afraid that someone's going to do it again. And if I find out what it is.'  
  
'Calm down, Hagrid. Like you said, we've got to find out who she belongs to first.'  
  
'You'd better get going. I don't want to make you late for lessons twice in one day. You didn't get into trouble, did yeh?'  
  
Knowing how upset it would make Hagrid if he knew the truth, they lied, 'No, no, it was fine, Hagrid.'  
  
'See yeh later.'  
  
'Probably tomorrow, we've got a lot of work to do tonight.' Detention more like, but never mind.  
  
'Okay, see yeh tomorrer!'  
  
Hagrid crept back into his hut so as not to wake its newest resident and Harr, Ron and Hermione walked back across the grounds. If anything, Harry and Ron would have rather stayed with Hagrid than go back to lessons. Divination was always such a bore. Harry wondered with exasperation what way Professor Trelawney was going to predict that he would die this year. 


	6. Battles and Billets

CHAPTER 6 - Battles and Billets  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione continued to visit Hagrid and Storm every day. It was amazing how much better the rith looked just after a few days of Hagrid's thorough care. She had put on weight, her eyes had lost some of their terrified glaze and her coat seemed to glow. Her bones were no longer quite so prominent, even through her thick fur. She was happier in herself too, she wagged her tail when they came to see her and no longer clung quite so closely to Hagrid as if he would abandon her to the cold outside world.  
  
Today was much the same. They scurried across the grass in an effort to keep a much out of the rain that was belting down as possible. But even over the sounds of the downpour they could hear that something was wrong. Shouts and barks shattered the peace of the grounds - all originating from Hagrids cabin.  
  
The trio ran forward and burst through the door to be confronted with a scene of chaos. Hagrid was placed between Storm and Fang who were snarling and barking at each other, seemingly in an effort to tear each others throats out. Lips were drawn back from shining white teeth and saliva was flying from the canine combatants jaws while their eyes blazed with hatred above. Hagrid looked both pleased and concerned at seeing them seeing as he couldn't move for fear that they would get a hold of each other, but the opponents were oblivious. Making a lightning move for one so large, Hagrid leapt forward and seized Fang's collar, pushed him out of the door and slammed it with one move. Just in time too for it was just as Storm had plunged in for an attack, and only ended up in hitting her sensitive muzzle against the solid door with sickening force.  
  
'That's enough!' Hagrid shouted, silencing both Fang who was scratching wildly at the door and Storm who fell back on her bony arse with a dazed look in her eyes from the impact.  
  
All of them stood around the blue rith who now sat peacefully, with a rather confused expression, on the hard floor. None of them knew quite what to say. It was Hermione who found her voice first, 'What happened?'  
  
Hagrid opened and closed his mouth like a fish a few times, searching for words that were a long time coming, 'I don' know, really. I'd jus' fed 'em both. I think Fang must've finished first 'cos he tried to take Storms'. She wasn't havin' none of it and it jus' all kicked off. I thought they were goin' to kill each other.'  
  
'What're you going to do?'  
  
'I don' know. Storm can't stay here no more, that's fer certain, Fang was here first and it's his home. I'll have to ask Dumbledore if she can stay in the castle, at least until we find her owner. I still haven't contacted NERO, so who knows how long that'll be.'  
  
'NERO?'  
  
'The National English Rith Organisation. They've got records on who most riths belong to, they definitely will on her, being such a rare breed.'  
  
'How rare is she?'  
  
'Rarest rith there is. Thor's rith she's known as. There's only a few of 'em in the country. Like I said, whoever lost her didn't do it lightly. It wouldn't surprise me to find she's won a few awards. Not my cup o' tea, this showin' lark, but if it produces creatures like her then its gotta be worth somethin'.'  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
It was later that evening that Harry met Hagrid in the entrance hall to the main castle. Storm was with him looking extremely well groomed and rather apprehensive in a new collar and short lead. People were constantly milling about and the rith's bright blue eyes were flickering from one to the next as if searching for someone, or something. Even though she was standing on her hind legs the rith still looked dwarfed by Hagrid.  
  
'Ah, Harry, jus' the person I was lookin' fer. I'm takin' Storm up to see Dumbledore and I was wonderin' if you could come with me. Jus' so she's got a couple of people about that she trusts. Don' want her getting' all panicky in front of Dumbledore, do we?'  
  
'Sure I'll come with you, Hagrid.'  
  
'That's a really pretty rith, do you mind if I stroke her?' This was a different voice, one that Harry didn't recognise, but when he turned round he recognized the speaker immediately from her grey eyes and red streaked hair.  
  
'You're Aisling, Seamus's sister.'  
  
'That's right, and you're Harry Potter.' She said his name without any of the awe or emphasis that people he hadn't met before usually put on his voice. It was quite nice to be treated normally for once.  
  
Hagrid broke in, 'I'm not sure if it's wise, she's a bit shy of new people.'  
  
He broke off in mid-sentence. Storm had completely ignored him and come up to greet Aisling, tail wagging. The pair locked eyes for a second before both appeared to smile. The Ravenclaw girl reached out and tickled Storm's ear. A look of absolute pleasure crossed the rith's usually timid features and fell to severely disappointed when the girl stopped.  
  
'Well, see you soon, Aisling.'  
  
'Thank you!' The girl disappeared down the corridor at a run.  
  
'Strange girl. Still, come on Storm.'  
  
Hagrid and Harry walked with the rith in-between them until they came to a stone gargoyle at the apparently blank end of a corridor.  
  
'Sour Apples!' said Hagrid loudly at the gargoyle. It swung inwards to reveal a spiralling stone staircase leading to Dumbledore's private chambers.  
  
The blue rith shied away from the narrow passageway and it took a lot of coaxing and treats to make her even set foot upon the stairs. When they got to the door leading into Dumbledore's study they halted, he already appeared to have a visitor. A visitor whose voice sounded angry and accusing.  
  
'.But I'm sure that they.'  
  
'There is no proof that the Lupuscan Circle ever existed, let alone that it is still in operation and in this school. Really, you forget yourself, you honestly think that I wouldn't notice such an absurd cult if it were thriving in my school?'  
  
'They had dealings with the Dark Lord, I know it for a fact, and that Enyana.'  
  
'I know life has not dealt you a fair hand, but Severus, whatever grudge you still hold against her, let it go. The poor girl has been dead for fifteen years, put any grievance you harbour in her grave, but please do not besmirch her memory in my office.' Dumbledore's voice was calm, but there was a definite edge to it, 'If indeed Enyana was part of that group then I am sure there was nothing but good in it.'  
  
Snape never got to reply, which was probably for the best, as Hagrid chose that moment to knock at the door.  
  
'Come in.' The three entered. 'Ah, Hagrid, Harry, and this is?'  
  
'Storm, Sir.'  
  
'Of course.' he didn't continue. The rith looked as if she had been turned to stone. Her whole body was rigid and she was staring fixedly at Snape. He merely stared back.  
  
Hagrid was full of apologies, 'Sorry, Professor, she's a bit scared of strangers. Come on, Storm, he's not goin' to harm yeh.'  
  
Snape just muttered and excused himself before sweeping out of the office. Storm almost immediately shook herself out of her temporary trance.  
  
'Funny, he has that effect on students too,' Dumbledore smiled. 'So this is the rith then. I take it you found her, Harry?'  
  
'Yes, Sir, she was washed up on the lakeshore. I think she must've tried swimming over it, but couldn't make it.'  
  
'A brave thing to do for one in such poor condition, she must have the heart of a lion to have even attempted it. You can let her off of that lead, Hagrid, I'm sure she won't do any damage.'  
  
As soon as she was released, Storm went off exploring every corner of the study with her nose and half-formed hands. Soon she had her muzzle jammed against a drawer in a cabinet and was pawing it, while occasionally looking over at Dumbledore.  
  
'What've you found? Ah! I was wondering where those had gone!' The aging Headmaster drew out a large bag of sweets. 'I remember now, I put them there for safekeeping. Very safe indeed by the looks of it.'  
  
Then he noticed the rith sitting at his feet, tail swishing across the stone floor and eyes fixed on the bag. He threw her one and placed the open bag on his desk with a gesture taken as 'Help yourself'. Harry placed one of the golden brown sweets in his mouth and began to chew. He tried not to show alarm when he found his jaws stuck together. Storm seemed to be having the same trouble and was clawing at her mouth. Hagrid and Dumbledore were oblivious and carried on talking.  
  
'Of course I see your concern, Hagrid. Riths do not act like that as a matter of course. But NERO have to be informed first, they will track down her owners and will prosecute if there are adequate grounds. I'll send them an owl tonight.'  
  
'I damned well hope so. No one should be able to treat an animal like that and get away with it. The only problem is that I can't keep her with me. Fang and her don' get along - jealousy on Fang's part I reckon - but I was wonderin' if she could stay up here in the main castle. I'm sure she'll be no trouble.'  
  
'There are plenty of spare dungeons that she could occupy. I don't think anyone will mind. It'll be more than comfortable, I'm sure. If you want to you can settle her in now. I doubt if you'll want to miss the feast tonight.'  
  
'Thank ye, Professor. Harry, are yeh comin'?'  
  
The last remnants of the sweet had just melted, leaving his jaws unstuck. He read the writing on the outside of the bag "Jawbinder Toffee" and reminded himself never to take one again. By the looks of it, neither would Storm. 


	7. Midnight Memories

None of the songs I use in this or subsequent chapters belong to me, as much as I wish they did. Ah well. Oh and if anyone knows Madam Hooch's real name please tell me and I'll change it.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------  
  
For some reason or other that Halloween night was a restless one for several of the inhabitants of Hogwarts castle. Ghosts of the past and harbingers of the future were making their presence felt with surprising force.  
  
Storm was not the least of these. She was now comfortably ensconced in the dungeon next to the Potions classroom. She laid down on the fleecy blanket that Hagrid had thoughtfully provided, but every time she closed her eyes she was haunted by faces she would never see again. She rolled over and the sound of her slight movement echoed through the dungeon. She didn't like being alone. She hummed to herself to try and keep her spirits up.  
  
If there was one thing that Storm loved it was music. Her most prized possession in her last home had been a small Muggle radio with enchanted so it never needed batteries. She'd stolen it from her owner's young son years ago and hidden it. The child had so many toys that he didn't notice anyway. She'd spent countless hours listening to it turned down so quietly that it was barely a whisper and no one else would notice it. If she could have done she'd have brought it with her - what a comfort it would have been on the nights she'd spent huddled under bushes fearful of being found. But she'd left in too much of a hurry to think of bringing anything with her. It wouldn't work here anyway, so she'd have to make her own entertainment. One particular song came immediately to mind simply because of the appropriateness of the lyrics, so she sang in her own way with Elaine Paige's voice joining her in a duet in her mind:  
  
"Midnight Not a sound from the pavement Has the Moon lost her memory She is smiling alone."  
  
Storm stared up at the slit-like window through which her only vision of the moon and stars came, so she closed her eyes and let her imagination bear her away to the open air.  
  
"Memories All alone in the moonlight I can smile at the old days I was beautiful then. I remember the time I knew what happiness was Let the memory live again."  
  
By the time the instrumental part came, the rith was up and dancing, the dungeon walls having melted around her. She was light and graceful on her feet, seeming to float above the floor, and she could almost see the imaginary partner in her arms.  
  
She sang to him now, tears carving deep furrows in her furry face, thinking that perhaps it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all as her glorious vision faded.  
  
"It's so easy to leave me All alone with my memory Of my days in the sun If you touch me You'll understand what happiness is Look, a new day has begun."  
  
She sang until dawn, all her favourite groups and artists over the years coming back to her: Phil Collins, Roxette, Enya, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Queen and countless others all putting in an appearance, their popular songs echoing through the deserted passageways, howled by one lonely wolf.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------  
  
Professor Severus Snape was also finding sleep elusive. His talk with Albus earlier on only served to resurrect old ghosts, painful memories and bitterness.  
  
Enyana, Enyana, the name kept turning over and over in his mind along with the confused feelings it always aroused in him. In all the world she had been the one thing that he wanted more than life itself, he would have given anything to have her, for her to say she loved him. But what had she done? Laughed at him with her so-called friends - Potter and the like.  
  
When he heard that she'd got engaged to Sirius Black it had crushed him. It had been the main reason why he had joined the Dark Lord, as an outlet for all the hate he felt. But just as she'd been the reason why he joined, she was the reason why he turned away.  
  
They'd killed her. Killed her and his chances of ever having her. He felt betrayed by the act and turned spy against them. He hadn't cared if he'd been found out and murdered, for then all the pain would have been over. Instead he'd learnt to bury his hurt deep inside.  
  
Instead of dwelling on his anguish in his room he decided to take a short walk around the castle, trying to convince himself that it was just to make sure that no students were wandering the halls on a Halloween prank.  
  
Every hallway was cloaked in darkness and he could almost fool himself that he was alone. Alone but for the echo of his own footsteps. When he approached the Astronomy Tower he was sure he could hear voices. Preparing himself to confront the miscreant, he came face to face with Madam Hooch and a pale young first year. The older woman had her arm around the girl's shoulders and smiled at Severus when she saw him as if to warn him not to make a fuss. The girl looked slightly flushed, but her eyes were darkly rimmed from exhaustion. Snape accompanied the pair back to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.  
  
'You'll be all right now, Aisling?'  
  
'Yes, thank you, Madam Hooch.'  
  
Aisling Finnigan whispered the password to a large stone eagle that swung aside to let her in.  
  
'What was that all about?' Snape muttered darkly.  
  
'Poor girl, caught her sleepwalking. It's not her fault Severus,' she added, noting the disbelieving hardness in his eyes. 'What are you doing prowling the passageways this late?'  
  
'Much the same you are, I'd imagine, Diana.'  
  
Diana Hooch laughed, 'It's not a night for sleeping, is it? I was on my way up to the Astronomy Tower to watch the stars when I met young Aisling. It's a clear night, you're welcome to join me, if you'd like.'  
  
'Thank you, but no thank you. All this 'prowling', as you put it, has made me rather tired. If you'll excuse me.'  
  
'Of course.'  
  
Severus strode off back towards his rooms. It wasn't that he didn't like Diana, but she made him rather uncomfortable. There was something unworldly about her, something unnatural. He supposed it was those piercing yellow eyes that seemed to strip your soul bare if she looked at you long enough. Yellow eyes always made him think of wolves and wolves were one thing that Severus Snape loathed.  
  
He laid back down in bed but sleep was a long time in coming to the Potions Master. 


	8. Werewolves Galore

Harry, Ron and Hermione were so deep in conversation about what Harry had overheard Snape talking about to Dumbledore the previous evening that they walked into the classroom without noticing who was sitting behind the desk, or that the others weren't quite so unobservant.  
  
'Ouch, Neville! Get a move on!' Ron had just walked into the thunderstruck Neville. Hermione saw immediately why he had stopped so suddenly.  
  
'Professor Lupin!'  
  
Harry and Ron turned around and their jaws simultaneously dropped. Sitting calmly with a secretive smile on his face was Remus Lupin.  
  
'Good afternoon, class. Sorry I couldn't be here for the start of term, but I had other business to attend to. Professor Dumbledore asked me to fill in until a permanent teacher is arranged. Come on, sit down.'  
  
The whole class was still standing as if rooted to the spot. Slowly the spell broke and a huge cheer ripped through the stone room, causing Lupin to flush to the roots of his hair. Dumbledore had been a good teacher, but they all had thought that Remus was the best DADA teacher they had ever had.  
  
The lesson proceeded much as it had when Lupin had taught before, with much good humour and enjoyment, 'Right, today we're starting on Dark groups and organisations. You've got to know which weirdo's are out there. Can anyone name any?' A few hands shot straight into the air, Harmiones included, 'Miss Patil?'  
  
'The Death Eaters.'  
  
'Yes, the most conspicuous and violent of our time. However they have so much history that I'm going to devote a whole lesson to them next time. Anyone else? Mr Longbottom?'  
  
Neville's voice shook as it always did when answering a question, 'The Sons of the Serpent?'  
  
'Yes, well done, Neville. This is the group which it is thought originally gave rise to You Know Who and the Death Eaters. A very select little set, this one. Their only entry criteria was that the members had to be able to speak Parselmouth. This, as you know, is a very rare gift.  
  
'This faction seemed bent on world domination and snake-worship. Luckily they never got too far, but a breakaway member of the Serpent's, known to us today as Lord Voldemort, appears to have got them a step further to their goal.'  
  
Most people flinched at Lupin's blatant use of the feared name.  
  
'Any others? Harry?'  
  
'The Lupuscan Circle?'  
  
'Now that's a really obscure one, where did you hear about them?'  
  
'I just heard the name somewhere.'  
  
'Yes, the Lupuscan Circle, also known as the Goldeneyes or the Wannabe Werewolves.' Most of the class looked at him incredulously when he said this.  
  
Hermione's hand shot straight back up into the air, 'You mean people who actually want to be werewolves?'  
  
'That's exactly what I mean, Miss Granger, although I don't understand why. Take it from someone who knows, it's not pleasant. It is said that the Circle revere wolves of all kinds, and that werewolves in their transformed state can recognise a Lupuscan and will not harm them. Little of their practises are known and many do not believe that such a cult exists. Many places have been cited as the birthplace and home of the Circle, including this castle, but I think we can safely discount it.'  
  
Lupin continued in this vein, telling them about various odd groups and sects, each with their own strange rituals and aims. But at odd intervals, strange howling noises came drifting through the open window.  
  
'What's that?' Ron murmured out of the corner of his mouth to Harry.  
  
Harry shrugged but Hermione answered, not looking up from the notes she was taking, 'Phil Collins, Dance Into The Light.'  
  
'What?'  
  
'Listen, can't you? Harry, you must know what I'm talking about.'  
  
'Well done, Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor for that superb interpretation of a howled version of Phil Collins's 'Dance into the Light'. Deciphering howls isn't that easy. Who is that?'  
  
'It's Storm, the runaway rith.'  
  
'Think of that, two werewolves with a love of Muggle music in one place. Still, I like a bit of background noise.'  
  
Harry could almost hear the words through the howls now, although if Hermione hadn't told him he'd never have guessed. Aunt Petunia liked singing along to the radio, though at least the rith was howling tunefully unlike his aunt's painful screeches. Ron was none the wiser, never having spent much time with Muggles or listening to their music.  
  
The rith's repertoire continued with, 'Truly, Madly, Deeply', 'China In Your Hands', 'I'll Be There For You', 'This Kiss', a particularly heartrending version of 'Too Much Love Will Kill You' and was halfway through 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' when it was cut short by a dull thud and a sharp yelp. Someone was obviously not as impressed by her singing talents as Lupin and had Banished something large and heavy in her direction, halting the impromptu concert.  
  
'Pity,' Lupin mused, 'Right that's it for today, people. I want one roll of parchment on a Dark Order of your choice in for next Tuesday.'  
  
The class all left talking nineteen-to-the-dozen except for the trio who hung back a while. Professor Lupin was packing his books into a briefcase that looked considerably more worn and battered since its last outing at Hogwarts.  
  
'It's good to see you three again. Surprised to see me again, eh?'  
  
'Well, yeah, Sirius never said anything about it.'  
  
'Ah, Sirius, I really should drop him an owl. He was staying with me, you see. I said I was taking a walk to clear my head and think about things and I ended up here. I started out three weeks ago. Still, these things happen, don't they?'  
  
'But I thought you weren't coming back.'  
  
'Strange story, Mr Weasley. I left because of all those complaint letters from parents. However, after I had gone Dumbledore was surprised how many more he received from parents and students alike saying how well I taught and how having a werewolf for a teacher was an excellent idea, as long as I was contained during the change, seeing as how I'd have practical experience of the arts without being a servant of You Know Who. I've only got you lot to thank, really. I never knew how popular I was.'  
  
'That's great, Professor.'  
  
'Please, call me Remus, at least when we're alone. We're friends, aren't we?'  
  
The door flew open and in walked Professor Snape, 'Professor Dumbledore, I have.' Snape's face froze in an expression of shock and hatred.  
  
'Good afternoon, Severus, what a pleasure it is to see you again.'  
  
'Remus, what are you doing here?'  
  
'Professor Dumbledore reinstated my position as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Wonderful, isn't it?'  
  
'Yes, quite.' If there was ever any evidence of people saying one thing but meaning quite another then this was it. Snape bit off the end of his words so that they were said with utter revulsion.  
  
'Miss Granger, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley were just welcoming me back. It's nice to feel wanted isn't it? Was there anything, Severus?'  
  
With a snarl aimed at all four, Snape stormed out slamming the door behind him. Immediately the four within dissolved into helpless laughter.  
  
'Did you see his face?'  
  
'His jaw was so clamped together I thought he was going to break it!'  
  
'You could almost hear his teeth grinding! 


	9. Almost Unreal

Since having Potions with the Hufflepuffs the lesson had become a lot less unbearable. At least Snape was equally vindictive to both houses, although Harry and Neville were still his prime targets. But the Hufflepuffs were just as protesting about his treatment.  
  
The sleet was falling heavily outside, making the dungeon in which Snape took his lessons even dingier than usual. The two houses were chatting amicably and lobbing inky parchment balls at each other when Professor Snape swept into the dungeon.  
  
'Silence! I thought you were fifth years who had learnt to wait quietly, not silly little first years trying to make as much noise and mess as possible. How wrong I must be.'  
  
The class quickly settled. Much as they would have enjoyed annoying Snape, none of them wanted detention in such cold weather - you never knew what dire punishments would come up with. He'd also recently been threatening to try out his new potions on 'someone' and they knew him too well to take this lightly.  
  
Soon the entire class was busily dicing dried rose stems, crushing dogs mercury and mashing toad brains for the Muscle Freezing potion they had been set today. Snape paced round, all the time criticising their efforts, 'Evenly diced, I said! Not that much, you stupid boy! Don't let it boil! Ah, Longbottom, once again.'  
  
Something cut him off in mid-sentence just as his wrath was about to descend on poor Neville. Storm was singing again.  
  
Being shut up in the dungeon all day because of the weather the rith had become restless and was singing and dancing with all her might to let out some of pent-up energy.  
  
Harry looked at Hermione who wrote down on a piece of parchment 'Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)'.  
  
Harry wrote back on the same piece of parchment, 'Are you really human or do we just have to add Pop Music of the 80's & 90's sung by riths to your ever growing list of talents?'  
  
The riths reverberating howls drowned out the noise of the parchment being written on and passed, which Snape's sharp ears would usually have picked up. Instead he was staring wrathfully at the separating wall. Neville also breathed a huge sigh of relief as he had apparently been forgotten. However, the song soon died away and the rith settled down.  
  
Snape waited a moment and regained his composure before resuming his attack, 'So, Longbottom, what sort of a hash.'  
  
He stopped again, the sounds of more howls reaching his ears, the unmistakable opening lines of 'Almost Unreal' by Roxette beginning to gain strength as the chorus approached.  
  
Snape's sallow skin turned even whiter than normal (which was thought impossible by most of them) and a pulsing vein stood proudly out on his taught forehead, the sure sign of an impending explosion.  
  
'I've got five Galleons Snape loses it during the guitar solo,' Dean whispered to Seamus.  
  
'You're on, Dean, my man.'  
  
The boys shook hands and waited impatiently. After what seemed like an age, they could almost hear the words they had been waiting for;  
  
"It's a crazy world out there, Let's hope our prayers are in good hands tonight."  
  
Storm let rip with a series of very loud, long howls, mimicking the guitar's chords almost to perfection. The class sniggered as they thought of the rith doing the most likely thing of playing air guitar. But Dean's prediction proved the most precise.  
  
'I've had enough of these damned wolves!' Snape yelled and stormed out of the dungeon, the door banging on its hinges.  
  
In between gales of laughter, Harry couldn't help thinking that it couldn't have just been Storm that Snape was talking about when he said "wolves".  
  
'Ssh! Shut up!' Hermione hissed urgently. 'Listen!'  
  
As soon as the noise died down they heard what Hermione had - the singing (if that's what you call it) had been replaced by loud snarls. An indistinguishable curse was uttered by Snape and the snarling stopped abruptly.  
  
'He wouldn't, would he?'  
  
'I wouldn't put anything past him.'  
  
The door swung open again and Snape strode back in, dragging the very bemused looking Storm. Her paws were bound as were her jaws. Two thin rivulets of blood escaped from under her bonds and dripped off her chin.  
  
There was a cruel smile playing about Snape's lips, 'Now, which one of you would like to test your potion on our little friend here? How about you, Longbottom?'  
  
Neville was actually shaking now and his round face had turned as white as Snape's. He knew how useless he was at potion making and didn't want his lack of skill to cause any harm to a defenceless creature.  
  
Snape seized his potion and walked over to where Storm had just appeared to be regaining her senses. A weak stunning curse had obviously been placed on her. He removed the ropes with a flick of his wand before pointing it at the rith, 'Imperio!'  
  
Immediate uproar ensued, Hermione's voice being the loudest as she stood up, absolutely outraged, 'Professor, you can't do that, it's an Unforgivable.'  
  
Snape rounded on her, 'Sit down, Granger. Ten points from Gryffindor for not knowing that the Unforgivable Curses are perfectly legal if used on animals.' He turned back to the rith, 'Storm, open your mouth.'  
  
The blue wolf just blinked and stared at him.  
  
'Open your mouth, I said!'  
  
Blink, stare. The Potions Master was shaking with rage at this blatant disregard of his orders.  
  
'Imperio! Open your mouth!'  
  
Blink, stare, snarl. Snape lost control while Storm kept it.  
  
'Crucio!'  
  
The rith doubled up in pain before her back arced backwards in a most unnatural position, her mouth open wide in a silent scream. Half the class were about to attack Snape, the other half unable to watch, but surprisingly it was Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff boy, who leapt up and knocked the wand out of Snape's hand. He couldn't stand the sight of Snape's gloating face any longer.  
  
'Stop it! You can't do that, it's cruel! JUST STOP IT NOW!'  
  
Snape's eyes lost some of the madness that had glazed them before, but he was by no means in complete control of himself. 'Finch-Flecthley, are you telling me what I can and can't do as a master of this school?'  
  
Justin stood eye to eye with the irate wizard, 'I know for a fact that you can't do that. The poor creature doesn't even know what she's done wrong.'  
  
'Get out of my class.'  
  
'With pleasure, sir.'  
  
Justin gathered his books and left the dungeon, his head held high. The rest of them felt like applauding, but didn't for the glint of lunacy still shone in Snape's cold eyes.  
  
Harry, perhaps the only one of them who had ever experience the Cruciatus curse first hand, knew exactly what to do and how much pain the rith was in. He left his seat and went over to where the rith was still stretched out on the floor. 'Hermione, get me some water.'  
  
'Sit down, Potter.' Snape hissed, dangerous calm having replaced the insanity.  
  
Harry just completely ignored him and set about dripping the water that Hermione had brought him onto the rith's tongue, her head resting upon his lap.  
  
'I said sit down, Potter.'  
  
'No. You did this wrong. Someone has to put it right.' Some of Harry's fear of Snape disappeared forever at that moment when he saw the indecision and regret in his eyes.  
  
Professor McGonagall entered the room quietly and surveyed the scene. 'Professor Snape, could I have a word?'  
  
The two Professors left the room together, McGonagall with an approving nod at Harry.  
  
'Jesus, did you see that? I wouldn't be surprised if Snape lost his job because of this.'  
  
'Old Justin, though. Who'd have thought it'd be him to confront Snape? Good for him!'  
  
'Poor Storm. Is she all right, Harry?'  
  
Harry wasn't listening. The rith had just opened her eyes and Harry wished she hadn't. The agony and turmoil in them was unbearable. Then a spark of recognition seemed to light up and she opened her mouth, he thought she was going to lick him like dogs do, but instead a word came out, quiet but distinct, 'James.' Then she passed into blissful unconsciousness.  
  
Harry continued stroking her head, quite at a loss for words. Not only could this creature talk, but she had called him by his father's name. Everyone had always said how much they looked alike. She must have thought he was his father. But how would a rith know his father?  
  
At that point Professor McGonagall came calmly into the room and announced, 'Professor Snape has been taken ill. Please put you potion ingredients and cauldrons away.  
  
'Is the rith hurt, Harry?'  
  
'Only as much as the Cruciatus curse hurts, Professor.'  
  
Professor McGonagall knew what he had suffered at the hands of Lord Voldemort and asked no more about it. 'Thank you, Potter. Clear away your things. I will deal with this.'  
  
Harry cleared away and walked out in a daze, unable to work out what had happened.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Thanks to all you people who have reviewed, I hope to get some more now!  
  
Loki19: Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't even realise I had that setting on! There's a bit more action in this chapter than the last. Hope that pleases you! 


	10. Secrets and Silver Wolves

Snape wasn't seen for a couple of days. A lot of people thought that he'd been fired, but return he surely did, although he looked rather thinner and more drawn. The incident appeared to have shocked him badly. Few dared to speak to him. They had seen a side of their teacher which they all might have suspected was there but would never have believed was there so violently. Poor Neville went into hysterics at the sight of him, if Storm hadn't got in the way who knows who might have been on the receiving end of that attack. He felt as though he owed the rith something for distracting Snape during that fateful lesson.  
  
Storm had become all introverted again and was refusing to look at or greet anyone, she was almost constantly curled up in the dungeon despite having been given free run of the castle. Harry was sure that it was more than the curse which had done this to her.  
  
He found out what it was on a cold night two days later. He was walking past the trophy room on his way back to the Gryffindor common room when he noticed something strange.  
  
The door was slightly ajar and standing alone, looking at the pictures, was Storm. She stroked the glass of one particular picture and let the tears flow unchecked onto the wooden floor.  
  
Harry managed to get right behind her before she knew he was there. When she turned to look at him her bright blue eyes were full of such sorrow that it wrenched his heart.  
  
He looked at the photo she had been so absorbed in and saw a quidditch team - the Ravenclaw quidditch team of sixteen years ago when Ravenclaw last won the cup. The team were celebrating and two in particular were the focus - a wiry, fair-haired boy wearing the gauntlets that Harry well knew belonged to a Seeker and a slim girl with long black hair and stunning features wearing the Captain's robes. Sometimes the girl would wince when patted on the back or shoulder, but still carried on smiling her dazzling smile and laughing off any concerns about her health.  
  
Harry read the plaque underneath the photo, a list of all the team members; CHASERS: Enyana Barrett (capt.) David Kindersley, Geraldine Patterson. BEATERS: Allan Leonard, Les Yates. KEEPER: Brian Lowestoft. SEEKER: Falco Shealey.  
  
Beneath this was an additional note, obviously added by a proud Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House (is it? I don't know!): "It was not discovered until several hours later, and well into the victory celebrations, that the Captain, Enyana Barrett, had sustained a broken collarbone and several fractured ribs from a bludger whilst aiding our Seeker, Falco, in capturing the Snitch and leading us to an outstanding victory. Far from wanting to see Madam Pomfrey, Enyana insisted that the bones heal naturally as a mark of honour and that the pain would remind her of the proud day when Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup. This news was received by cheers from the house that roused the entire castle."  
  
Enyana, where had he heard that name before? Of course! That was who Snape was talking about along with that weird werewolf cult. It's not a name that's all that common. But her face was familiar too, although he didn't know why. But reading this he understood why Dumbledore was so protective about her name. It was also on the raven-haired girl that Storm fixed her attention.  
  
'Did you know her?'  
  
Nod.  
  
'Did you belong to her family?'  
  
With a trembling lip she nodded again.  
  
'What happened to them?'  
  
This time it was a shaking paw that reached out and touched him on the forehead, right on the scar. He understood what the gesture meant.  
  
'Then they killed your family too.' It wasn't a question, but the rith nodded again, her eyes closed and the tears welling out from under the tightly shut lids and soaking her fur.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Harry could not have felt more depressed. He had finally found someone with worse luck than himself - at least Snape couldn't put the Cruciatus curse on him. But he was more puzzled about where he knew Enyana's face from, and how Storm had known his father's name.  
  
He'd just finished his Divination assignment using the usual methods he applied to the subject of making it up. As long as it had lots of bad things happening then Professor Trelawney would be none the wiser.  
  
He was staring blankly at the finished parchment and flicking his quill absent-mindedly creating irritating swishing noises. Hermione looked up from a complex book of Arithmancy. Harry had told her all about Storm, and the mystery of Enyana Barrett.  
  
'Come on, Harry, it's not doing you any good moping all day. Why don't we go and visit Dobby, we haven't see him all term.' If anything would take his mind off his troubles, a mad house-elf was a sure fire solution.  
  
'Sure. Ron, are you coming?'  
  
'Yeah, hang on. What do you reckon this means?' Ron held up a tarot card.  
  
'No idea. Make something up. As long as it's bad she won't notice.'  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
They made their way down to the kitchens, tickled the pear in the painting until it turned into a handle and entered the massive room. Everywhere they looked there were house-elves doing something, peeling, chopping, cooking and cleaning. One of them looked at them with a slightly hostile expression, they had obviously not forgotten the SPEW campaign last year and didn't want a re-enactment.  
  
Eventually one of them came over, 'Can I help you, sirs and miss?'  
  
'We're looking for Dobby.'  
  
The hostile expression did not leave the elfs' face, in fact it grew worse. Dobby was also not a popular subject, a house elf getting paid put the others to shame in their skewed outlook on life.  
  
'It's his day off,' other elves looked over in disgust.  
  
'Where is he?'  
  
'He's in his room. I shall take you.'  
  
The elf led them through the huge kitchen to a small back corridor. The elf gestured to a small door before hurrying off to carry on with his duties. Harry knocked on the door and a very familiar face appeared at it - a face with tennis ball sized eyes and a long pencil-shaped nose. Dobby.  
  
'Harry Potter! Dobby is most pleased to see you, sir, and you too, sir and miss. Come in, come in, Dobby will show you his room!'  
  
The three had to bend down to get through the door before the free house elf showed them his room with a great deal of pleasure. It was really rather small with no windows and very little furniture - the tiny chest of drawers, child-sized bed, bookcase and chair were all rather battered and tarnished, but they didn't dare to say so to the elf. He was really very proud of his poky room and meagre possessions. Even the few books on the bookcase were falling apart.  
  
'It's, er, very nice, Dobby,' said Harry eventually. Dobby's green eyes filled with tears of gratitude.  
  
'Does Harry Potter really like it? Most house elves do not get their own room, the others sleep in the kitchen, but I asked Professor Dumbledore and he tried to give me a larger room, but I said it was too grand for a house elf, so I chose this room. I bought the furniture myself with my wages.'  
  
'That's really nice, Dobby, I'm glad you're happy,' said Hermione with a smile on her face.  
  
'Dobby could not wish to be happier.'  
  
Dobby brought them all manner of cakes and snacks from the kitchens, happy that he was able to entertain guests in his own room.  
  
'I didn't know elves could read, Dobby,' said Ron looking at the books on the case.  
  
'Most can't, sir, most don't want to learn, but Dobby's friend taught him while he was still a bound elf, sir.'  
  
'Who was that, another elf?'  
  
'Dobby cannot say, sir.'  
  
'Why?'  
  
Dobby chewed on his lip and a tight expression crossed his face such as that when he used to punish himself for saying something wrong when he was a slave of the Malfoys. Harry saved the situation quickly, 'Don't worry, you don't have to tell us.'  
  
'Thank you, sir.'  
  
They stayed for a little while longer, sitting on the bare floor for fear of breaking the already decrepit furniture. Hermione looked at Dobby's books and suddenly let out an exclamation, 'Harry, come look at this!'  
  
Harry went over to where Hermione was. She drew something out that was propping up a line of books.  
  
It was a silver wolf. 


	11. The Wolven Door

All three couldn't help staring at it. It was a wolf just like Harry's, made from tinfoil and about the same size, except that this one was sitting down with its head cocked to one side as if listening for something.  
  
'Where did you get this, Dobby?'  
  
'Dobby's friend gave it to him, sir, when he was released. So we wouldn't forget each other. It is my most prized possession. Is it a bad thing?'  
  
'I don't think so, it's just a puzzle, that's all. So your friend's still a slave of the Malfoys?'  
  
The odd tightness came back to Dobby's face and they decided not to push it further. They stayed a bit longer until Dobby had forgotten the whole incident before making their excuses. They didn't say a word until they got to the common room. They didn't know what to say. They were all thinking the same thing anyway - who was Dobby's friend and why would he give a silver wolf to Harry? This had just raised more questions than it had answered.  
  
Harry put the wolf on the table in front of them.  
  
'We've got to find out who Dobby's friend is.'  
  
'Well done, Ron, any ideas?' The sarcasm was unmistakable.  
  
'It couldn't be the Malfoys playing another dirty trick on you like they got Dobby to do a few years ago, do you?'  
  
'That was nothing to do with the Malfoys. It was just Dobby being paranoid. But last time it was because of that diary. What could it be this time? Nothing weird at all has happened this year, at least no weirder than usual, and Dobby isn't involved, he didn't know anything about it.'  
  
'Why a silver wolf, what does it symbolise, if anything? And that dead rabbit that came with it? This thing just gets more bizarre the more we look at it.'  
  
'Maybe Dobby's friend gave it to me as a thank you for getting him freed.'  
  
'But he said he was still a slave of the Malfoys, how could he get out to leave it on your doorstep?'  
  
'Yeah, I suppose you're right.'  
  
They discussed it long into the night, but no answers were forthcoming. The wolf stood peacefully gazing up at the endless moon, singing its silent song.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
The next evening in the library, Ron and Harry were working on a Potions essay, which Hermione had naturally finished ages ago, when she came up and dumped a large book on their table.  
  
'Watch it, 'Mione!' Ron hissed at her, his quill had just narrowly missed being flattened.  
  
'Look at it.' Hermione pointed to a picture covering the right hand page. It was a photo of something they all knew.  
  
'That's that engraving up in the Astronomy Tower, isn't it?'  
  
'Yes, but look at it!' Hermione pointed fiercely at two figures in the engraving, 'They're identical to the silver wolves!'  
  
When Harry looked at it more closely he could see what Hermione meant. The whole thing was the picture of a woodland clearing filled with wolves and. things. He quickly read the caption underneath it; "Upon climbing the Astronomy Tower, observers can't fail to notice the stony portraits of magical creatures. By far the most interesting is the above which has long been known as the Wolven Door. However, despite many investigations, there is no evidence of the stonework being a door of any kind or that there is any kind of secret chamber behind it.  
  
"The Astronomy Tower and its decorations have been accredited to Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the four Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who was a keen Astronomer and have a passion for all types of magical creatures."  
  
Hermione slammed the book shut, it was one of her favourites - Hogwarts, A History - and set off towards the exit.  
  
'Where are you going?' Harry asked.  
  
'To have a closer look at the Wolven Door, of course. Are you coming?'  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
They walked past carvings of phoenixes, dragons, manticores, hippogriffs, centaurs, unicorns and countless others before reaching the Wolven Door, about halfway up the tower.  
  
The engraving itself was huge - at least twice their height and about six feet wide. The detail in it was incredible. They could make out different types of trees and even individual hairs on the bodies of the wolves could be distinguished. It was these creatures that they looked at.  
  
'They're not wolves, they're werewolves!' Ron said in surprise. 'Look, there's a full moon and everything.'  
  
He was right. The only thing that held any colour apart from the natural grey of the stone was the white of the full moon and its rippled reflection in a lake. The werewolves themselves were all in different stages of transformation - some were completely lupine, some were wholly human and some were neither. A few looked almost human except that they had wolf-like tails and ears. All of their eyes had been inlaid with yellow crystal so that they glinted at the watchers.  
  
What they saw in the carving didn't tie up with what they knew about werewolves at all. To them it looked like the transformation was a happy occasion. There were even a pair of half-changed lovers holding hands in the moonlight while their compatriots danced and sang around them. Sitting on the edge of the lake was a wolf staring into the water with its head cocked to one side - Dobby's wolf.  
  
'Whoever made this didn't know anything about werewolves,' said Hermione, 'Look, there's no sign of pain like Lupin goes through and they'd all be killing the people there by now. I wonder why it's called a door, though?'  
  
'No one really knows,' a different voice from behind made them all jump.  
  
'Remus, what are you doing here?'  
  
'I've just finished taking my first class of first years. The main topic of conversation being "Are you really a werewolf? Really?" I think they got the point that I was by the end.  
  
'I've just seen your friend Storm, by the way. The NERO woman has been in this morning, the poor rith looks a little the worse for wear. I think they took her up to see Madam Pomfrey for an expert opinion.'  
  
'Cheers, Remus!'  
  
The three took off towards the hospital wing, leaving Lupin staring at the Wolven Door and shaking his head in pity of the misunderstanding of the people who carved it.  
  
When they reached it the door was slightly ajar and they peered through the crack. They could see Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid and a short, dumpy woman in dark green robes crowding around something. A sharp yelp let them know what the something was.  
  
'Have you got a camera, Poppy? We need to take photographs of this as evidence.'  
  
'You think yeh've got a case then, Mrs Mackley?'  
  
'Without a shadow of a doubt, sir. This is one of the worst cases of rith abuse I've seen in all my years,' a thick West-Country accent rang clear in the empty wing.  
  
'It's awful, I have to say.'  
  
'Stand aside, there. Let's have some light,' the brisk voice of Madam Pomfrey ushered them all out of the way while she took pictures of the newly revealed Storm. Hermione gasped in horror. The rith was covered in horrible lumps all the way up both her arms and legs and worse, two livid scars bisected her face. One ran from the base of the left side of her jaw, across her left eye and stopped halfway up her forehead, the other ran at an angle across her muzzle.  
  
'These are definitely bleed scars?' Professor McGonagall asked.  
  
'Oh yes,' Madam Pomfrey and Mrs Mackley said at once, but it was the NERO woman who continued, 'Bleed scars are always this shape, but its not just the scars that worry me. It's how many there are. There are several laws in reference to rith-bleeding including that it cannot be done more than twice a year and that it must be done by a licensed bleeder and reported to NERO. Properly done it shouldn't leave a scar at all, but this poor creature has been severely and illegally overbled. I doubt if any of these were reported to us.'  
  
'But you know who it is.'  
  
'I do, yes, and by thunder we'll have them up for this. No wonder this poor beast always got such a reputation in the ring for being a thoroughly unpleasant animal, she was probably in a great deal of discomfort with these being hidden away.' The NERO woman patted Storm on her head. 'I would, of course, normally tell you who this creature belongs to, but due to these exceptional circumstances, you understand of course.'  
  
'Of course.'  
  
'But wha's her name, her pedigree name I mean,' It was unlike Hagrid to want to know about anything that didn't involve size of teeth or poisonous ability.  
  
'I suppose it can't hurt - it's Bluestorm Spirit-of-the-Sky. A fine name for a fine animal.'  
  
'Not eavesdropping, are we?' The voice of Snape hissed behind them. In his hands was a small vial of green liquid.  
  
'By no means, Professor, we had just come up to see Storm. Professor Lupin told us she might need friends around her.' Harry had said this unnecessarily loud so that everyone in the hospital wing would hear them. Hagrid opened the door.  
  
'Hello, Professor. Come on in, you three.'  
  
Storm wagged her tail when she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione, but it went as stiff as a ramrod and her ears laid flat against her head when she spied Snape, her lips just beginning to draw off her teeth.  
  
'Thank you, Severus,' Professor McGonagall said, relieving Snape of the potion. He turned away and swept out without a word. 'I'm afraid Severus and Storm don't get along,' she explained to the bemused Mrs Mackley.  
  
'I believe I have all the evidence I need,' said Mackley, gathering her things, 'I will have the camera sent back to you once we've had the photographs developed. We will inform her owner of her whereabouts, and of the case we are filing against him. If he decides to collect her then I'm afraid you will have to hand her over. But let's just hope that doesn't happen.  
  
'Oh, and Mr Hagrid, if you get a chance a striking could be just the thing she needs to perk her up a bit. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Take care of her.' The short woman left with a cheery wave.  
  
Hagrid took the potion that Snape had brought and beckoned Storm over, 'Come on, Storm, this'll make your hurt all better.'  
  
Harry noticed for the first time a bright red tattooed number glowing down the length of Storm's leg, but the rith was having nothing to do with the potion. She wrinkled her nose at first scent of it. Hagrid sniffed it. He coughed and spluttered  
  
'Cor blimey! What's he put in this?'  
  
Harry reached down into his pocket and withdrew a half melted chocolate frog, 'Here, will this help?'  
  
'Cheers, Harry.' Hagrid poured the potion onto it, and as soon as Storm got wind of it she was there, her eyes bright with longing. She ate it without even tasting the brew poured on it.  
  
'What's that, Hagrid?' Hermione asked, pointing to the tattoo.  
  
'It's called a veiled mark. Most riths have one, it tells you who they are and who they belong to, but they're kept hidden unless people need to see them. There's only one thing with 'em, they won't show up unless there's no other spells on the creature. That's how all this came to light. Whoever owns her had covered it all up with concealment spells.'  
  
'That's awful.'  
  
'But at least somethin's bein' done about it now.' 


	12. Golden Eyes

The eve of the full moon was nigh and Remus Lupin was restless. Although the wolfsbane potion let him keep his mind it didn't stop him feeling the other effects of the moon-curse - the aggression, the violent mood-swings, the transformation, the pain - they all stayed as potent as they had always been.  
  
He settled down with a dusty old book to wait for night to fall and his body to change. He didn't trust himself to wander the school even before dark. That was the terrible irony of the werewolf, separately the two halves are sociable, gregarious creatures, but combined they become outcast, left to wander the night alone and unloved. That loneliness and confusion was what drives the animal to despair, despair leads to hatred of all who reject it, that to murder and revenge and this in turn to its eventual extermination.  
  
Yet despite the wolfsbane potion, werewolves were still reviled amongst the wizarding folk and seen as a beast and nothing else. The more they showed their true colours the more they were alienated. Their only recourse was to stay hidden.  
  
Upon these things and more Remus dwelled, staring blankly at the battered pages of his book. He started when a knock came at the door.  
  
'Go away, leave me alone!' he cried, wishing for another to share his pain but not daring to put another in danger.  
  
The lock clicked open as a wand was pointed at the door and the handle turned. Remus was suddenly furious at the idiot that put their life in hazard by disturbing a werewolf this close to the change. He could feel the wolfs' excitement at its impending release and it was already starting to take him over even though the sun was still far above the horizon.  
  
'What the hell do you think.' he stopped in mid-rage when he saw who was framed in the portal. 'Di, what are you doing here?'  
  
'Snarl at me, Remus, and I'll just snarl right back. You know what I'm like. Do you mind?' she indicated two comfy armchairs in a corner.  
  
Lupin hadn't even realised that his lips had curled at the intruder. He led the way over to the armchairs and sat down, feeling rather uncomfortable at having a human near him this close. It was Diana Hooch who broke the icy silence.  
  
'I'm not afraid of what you are, Remus. You don't have to get all squirmy on my account. I just thought you might enjoy some company, at least for a while. The most awful thing is to be alone.'  
  
'I must be alone so as not to put others in danger.'  
  
'Not all are in danger, my friend. But what about the wolf, does he like being alone or does he sing all night for his pack and his friends?'  
  
'Talk sense, Di, I can't let the wolf roam this place at night.'  
  
'Does his pack answer him?'  
  
Remus opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again. Nagging doubts were pricking at his brain. Tiny snippets of a transformed wolfs' memories. Locked away in a wooden shack howling all night long because he didn't want to be alone. Yet one night from a distance other howls answer him, speaking of how they will find him and make him whole. Yet when they do come they can't get to him and he can't get out so he would get angry and distressed. But they didn't leave him, they sang to him. Yet when his friends became animagi he soon forgot his wolfish companions. Until now.  
  
'And they told you stories to pass away the night, grand tales of wolves and men.'  
  
Remus's eyes had become misted with memory, 'Yes, of Lupus, the white wolf and of others. But how do you know?' he snapped suspiciously, shaking himself back to reality.  
  
'Because I heard the stories too.'  
  
'Then you are.'  
  
'No, Remus, I am no werewolf, just one who can see through wolfish eyes.'  
  
The werewolf looked into Diana's golden eyes and saw a haunting quality in them, that of one who can see in two worlds. The two worlds he was caught between.  
  
'There are more than just werewolves in this world, but I know of your pain and I can help you.'  
  
The talk became easy as the two did not have to hide from each other any more and felt a connection deep inside. Just as the sun dipped below the horizon they were disturbed by someone who entered with much fear in his heart and a smoking potion in his hands.  
  
'You'd best drink this quick, Lupin, the sun has set.'  
  
Severus Snape stared in disbelief at the two teachers sitting close, their hands held intimately in each others.  
  
Remus passed a look at Diana, a look which conveyed all his feelings, all his doubts, 'Drink your potion, if it helps you, but think on what I've said. Moony,' she said this name with an amused smile on her lips, 'I shall see you in the morning.' She kissed his forehead lightly and squeezed his hand before whispering in his ear, 'If you need me, sing and I shall come.'  
  
'Thank you, Raq.' There was also a secretive smile playing on his face and a blush on his cheeks as she left him. As she left she winked one of her yellow eyes at Severus, her overlarge canines showing clearly through her parted lips.  
  
Snape's fear had, as usual, mutated into anger and hate. 'How do you do it? Her. With you.? A filthy little werewolf.'  
  
'It seems there is more to Diana than meets the eye, even golden ones.'  
  
'So she is.'  
  
'No, Severus, Diana is no werewolf. She is. something else.' He almost said "my mate" but stopped himself.  
  
Snape stormed out, locking the door behind him. Even a werewolf could get a girlfriend, but he couldn't. Once again the face of a raven-haired girl loomed up in his thoughts, but he banished it as quickly as he could.  
  
Remus drank the potion without even tasting it, for once. He could feel the moon beginning to rise, so he removed his robes and sat down on the armchair. He could feel the burning, prickling sensation that heralded the arrival of a tide of silver hair breaking through his skin, but instead of concentration on the pain he thought of Raq and tried to follow her advice and not to fight it. To accept that him and the wolf were the same person and nothing could ever change that.  
  
The moon was getting higher and he could feel its influence racing through his veins. It felt like a thousand thorns flowing through his veins, as his body contorted into the shape of a wolf, his bones cracking and changing - lengthening and shortening - dagger-like teeth erupting through his gums in a rain of blood.  
  
'Liquid gold,' he repeated to himself, 'liquid gold.' Using his mind to make the thorns melt and his blood changed to liquid gold, the fire feeding strength into his limbs to burn away the pain. When he opened his eyes he was a wolf again, but the pain had not been what it normally was.  
  
And there was a song in his heart for he was not alone. 


	13. The Face in the Photo

Saturday mornings were always time for Quidditch practice for the Gryffindor team. Katie Bell had taken over the Captaincy from Oliver Wood, although it would be only for a year as she was now a seventh year and would be leaving Hogwarts at the end of the summer term. Ron had made the team as Keeper and was looking forward to playing for the team. The whole team was thankful for Katie's more relaxed attitude to practicing rather than the obsessional Wood.  
  
Hermione had turned out to watch and had brought Storm with her. The rith didn't seem to watch the players at all, but rather seemed to stare through them, lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes were bloodshot and darkly rimmed - she hadn't slept again. Even though all the books said that a rith was no different on a full moon Storm always felt her blood stir with its passion and felt the need to hunt under its cold light. She had also been far too busy worrying about when her Master came to collect her to have found rest. She feared his punishment for running away, but more than that she feared being alone again.  
  
But soon the mesmerizing effect of the players whizzing around on their brooms, scarlet against azure blue, cleared all her thoughts of anxiety and she lost herself in dreams of flying over the mountains and away from all her troubles to where the wild wolves ran.  
  
Hermione was reading a rather dog-eared manual on rith-keeping and care. She kept looking rather suspiciously at the placid creature asleep at her feet, its back leg occasionally twitching in dreams. She almost dropped the book when she saw how much Thor's riths generally sold for - it was extortionate. Then again they were one of the rarest creatures on the planet, so perhaps it wasn't surprising that even the poorest Thor could easily fetch four thousand Galleons.  
  
'Come on, 'Mione, practice is over!' Ron shouted at her.  
  
Hermione nudged Storm with her foot and the rith stirred unhappily, she hadn't slept so peacefully for over thirteen years, but followed all the same.  
  
The three friends were talking happily when Storm suddenly stiffened. Her nose was quivering and her whole body was trembling with excitement. With a delighted yelp the rith took off after a dusty grey tabby that screeched in fear. She almost took out all three as she charged past them, tail high and all four paws pounding against the floor, bounding happily.  
  
Harry was the first to realise what had happened, 'Storm, come back you idiot! That's Mrs Norris! Oh my god, Filch is going to kill us if she gets his cat!'  
  
Ron, Hermione and Harry ran after the delighted wolf, following the path of destruction and dazed students that Storm left in her wake. They rounded the corner to see Mrs Norris leap over a windowsill, leaving Storm looking disappointed as she got up on her hind legs to see where the cat had gone.  
  
In the chase she had almost knocked over a man who had been walking along the corridor. A man with long fair hair and a noble bearing. Storm turned to grin at him apologetically, but when she looked at his face her eyes widened and a look of pure terror crossed her furry features. Left with little recourse, Storm followed Mrs Norris straight out of the window.  
  
'Zafyre!'  
  
The three stared in shock as Lucius Malfoy watched Storm's progress across the castle grounds with a look of absolute fury on his aristocratic face. Harry noticed a thick brass and leather collar in his hand. With hardly a look at them, Lucius strode off in the direction of Dumbledore's office.  
  
'What do you reckon he's here for?'  
  
'Wake up, Ron! It's pretty obvious, isn't it? He's Storm's master.'  
  
'No wonder she was scared. I'll bet it was him that did all those horrible things to her.'  
  
'We've got to go to Dumbledore, he can't have her back.'  
  
They set off with purpose towards Dumbledore's chambers, but Malfoy senior was already there and coming out with the Headmaster, 'Yes, of course, Lucius.  
  
'Ah,' Dumbledore said, spotting them, 'just who I wanted to see. You've spent a lot of time with the rith. I was wondering if you knew where she might have gone. It appears that she took fright when she spotted her master.'  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, none of them wanting to betray the wolf, but not wanting to lie to Dumbledore either.  
  
Finally it was Hermione who answered, 'She was heading towards the Forest. Perhaps you'd best see Hagrid.'  
  
'Then that's where we'll go. Thank you very much.'  
  
Dumbledore and Malfoy walked off in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.  
  
'He's not going to give her back, surely?'  
  
'I don't think he's got a choice.'  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
It wasn't until later that the trio went down to see the gamekeeper. He waved when he saw them, 'Come on in, I jus' put the kettle on!'  
  
When walking into the cluttered hut there was one thing that stood out starkly - a pretty braided leather collar in the same shape as when it was around its past wearers neck. That and the silence.  
  
'She's gone.'  
  
'Why?'  
  
'Apparently she belonged to that scum, Malfoy, has done for years. He thought she'd been stolen. Couldn't believe it when I told him about her being washed up on the lakeshore.'  
  
'So what happened, Hagrid?'  
  
'Well, first thing I know is that Storm comes runnin' down here like she's got a dragon on her tail. She was scared witless so I tried to calm her down a bit. Even Fang was being a gentleman to her and you know how much they hate each other. She must've heard them comin' afore I did, she tried to hide anywhere she could find, but settled on my pan cupboard.' They looked over and saw the various saucepans and frying pans scattered over the floor where Storm had tried to make space for herself, to no avail. 'I didn' understand why she was doin' it until Dumbledore and Malfoy knocked on my door. That was when she tried to force herself inside, but you could see her tail sticking out like a flag.  
  
'So Dumbledore explained that Storm belonged to Malfoy and we had to give her back. It took a while to get her out of that cupboard, I can tell you. She didn' wanna go, I could see that. I even offered to buy her. He jus' sneered at me that way he does an' said she was worth more that all I owned. Pah! That's all things are worth to Malfoy - money.  
  
'She wouldn' let Malfoy near her so I had to put Malfoy's collar on her. It hurt me to do it, it felt like I was betraying her. There were tears in her eyes and she seemed to be sayin' "I don' like this, but I'll let you do it because I trust you." I gave her one last pat before I handed her over, tol' her how brave she was, but that wasn't it. Malfoy ordered me to put a muzzle on her. I said she don' need one, she's the friendliest creature I'd ever known but he said he'd been bitten once too often. There was nothin' I could do, though I'm sure he was the evil bastard who gave her all those scars.' This was the first time they'd ever heard Hagrid swear, but they all felt the same way.  
  
Harry decided to take his mind off it and ask him a question that had been nagging him, 'Hagrid, what do you know about a girl called Enyana Barrett?'  
  
'Enyana? Oh, she's not one you'd forget in a hurry. Beautiful girl, as lovely inside as out. She was a good friend to your mum 'n' dad too, Harry. She was at their weddin'. That's when Sirius Black proposed to her.'  
  
'Sirius?'  
  
'Aye, madly in love those two were, though I'll never know what she saw in him. There were plenty of others after her a lot better'n him. Sirius arranged it all with Lily an' James. A guidance spell was put on Lily's bouquet to make sure that Enyana caught it. Sirius had hidden the engagement ring in it, you see.'  
  
'How romantic!'  
  
'It were that. The wedding never came to be. It was terrible.'  
  
'What was?'  
  
'One night there was a meeting at her family's house. Her family was big in the league against You-Know-Who, one of the oldest pure-blooded families too, so that was one in the eye for their "only pure-bloods should learn magic" policy if all the Barretts were against them. They were all wiped out. Looked like all of the others got zapped straight off, but all they found of Enyana was a pile of ashes, a silver necklace and a shattered wand. Black was one of the first on the scene.'  
  
'Poor Sirius.'  
  
'Poor Sirius? Poor Enyana more like. She never deserved that end. Still, why are we talkin' about all this. What do you want to know about Enyana for?'  
  
'I've just heard her name mentioned recently, and I think Storm once belonged to her.'  
  
'You're jokin'! So that's Elhaz?'  
  
'Elhaz?'  
  
'Enyana always used to talk to me about her. Her rith, Elhaz, she was so proud of her. I never knew she was a Thor. That poor creature, goin' from that good household to the Malfoys.'  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
They left Hagrid's later and Harry immediately took out his photograph album. He flicked through the pages until he found the photo he had been looking for. It was one of his mum and dad on their wedding day. His dad was back to back with Sirius and each had their arms around a girl - his father with his mum and Sirius with Enyana. Where as his mother had her hands firmly upon his father's, Enyana's had strayed behind Sirius back and it was clear from the way he occasionally jumped that she was pinching his arse. She was shorter than Sirius, but what she lacked in height she made up for by far in looks. Harry could see why Hagrid said so many had been chasing her. Sirius couldn't have looked happier, despite the constant pinching.  
  
'That must be terrible, finding your fiancée is nothing but a pile of ashes.' Hermione said pityingly, 'I wonder if Sirius still thinks about her?'  
  
Harry turned over a few pages and found a picture of the Marauders at Hogwarts, along with some others. The photo showed his dad, Sirius, Remus and Peter all down by the lake with his mum, Enyana and a few others. Sirius and Remus had Enyana by her wrists and ankles, obviously threatening to throw her in the lake while his mum and dad sat together laughing and a couple of others tried to stop them. He could almost hear the shrieks of laughter coming from it.  
  
In the background was a very familiar, although younger, face staring at the antics down by the water with a look of utmost jealousy on his pale face. It was Severus Snape. 


	14. A Cold Night

The song used in this chapter is Mary Fahl's 'Going Home' from Gods and Generals, a song which depressed me enough to write this!  
  
Although Storm had only been at Hogwarts for three weeks, the castle without her seemed empty. There were no more renditions of popular songs howled through the cold passageways to take their minds off boring lessons, no more evening strolls watching her investigating all the undergrowth for anything that moved (or occasionally didn't) or simply sitting with her down in the dungeon talking and stroking her blue fur until she fell asleep. They didn't dare to think how she would be feeling being back at the Malfoy manor. They were sure for all its luxuries, Storm, Elhaz, Zafyre or whatever her name was, would have much preferred Hagrid's cabin.  
  
Only one person seemed genuinely pleased to be rid of her and that, unsurprisingly, was Snape. Since his near-death experience with the transformed Remus he had feared and loathed wolves and dogs of all kinds, were or no. But he had found something especially unsettling about Storm, some barely hidden emotion that he could not quite work out and didn't really want to get close enough to see what it was. Like the deeply bitter man he was, he took out his frustration on his classes, particularly Gryffindors. He gained great pleasure in handing out detentions and punishments all round, but for his particular favourites. All the rules said that a teacher shouldn't favour students over others, but Severus Snape did not play by the rules.  
  
By order of Dumbledore he had allowed Finch-Fletchley back into his classes, but he would not forgive the boy for his impertinence, not understanding the drive behind the act. That Hufflepuff boy had changed so much over this term - he'd become confident to the point of arrogance and didn't seem to take the potions lessons at least seriously and threats seemed to hold no power over him. If Longbottom found some of what Finch- Fletchley had then he didn't know if he could keep his temper in check.  
  
Lupin, too, was irking his patience. He didn't know how the werewolf had wheedled his way back into favour and how he had taken over the position for a second time that was rightfully his, Severus's. The man was so friendly and chummy with all his students and, this time, was making no attempt to hide what he was. 'A beast like that ought to be in a cage,' he snarled to himself as he marked a load of half-botched essays. The animal had even managed to wangle his way into Diana Hooch's affections. How he had done it was a mystery to Snape and, though he didn't admit it even to himself, he was jealous.  
  
Other things were bothering him too, well one thing - the Lupuscan Circle. There was something funny going on at Hogwarts - strange howlings, people moving about at night, particularly full moons, and the wolves. Everywhere that he looked he seemed to be seeing wolves. Even in the eyes of some of the students. He was sure that the Circle held the answer, but how to find out?  
  
But at least Storm was gone and that was one less thing to bother him. He regretted what he had done to the creature in that fateful Potions lesson, but he had let his fear and his anger take over. He knew how painful the Cruciatus Curse was and had only ever used it himself once, but had felt so guilty about it that he hadn't ever done it again. That was, until Storm had appeared.  
  
He looked at a clock and saw the lateness of the hour. Putting down his quill and blowing out the candles, he walked up through the corridors towards his chambers. On the way he met a Ravenclaw prefect, he knew her immediately, she was in her seventh year and her short, spiky, flame-red hair and bright hazel eyes made her rather intimidating to those younger than her.  
  
'Evening, Professor.'  
  
'Good Evening, Miss Seymour. Doing a late patrol?'  
  
'Aye, just checking there's no one wandering about this late. It's going to be a cold one, don't want anyone freezing to death because they've forgotten their passwords!'  
  
'Very well. Goodnight Lucy.'  
  
'G'night Sevvie!'  
  
By the time Snape had realized what she had said the girl was long gone. No matter, he thought, plenty of time to punish her for that one.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Harry, Hermione and Ron sat up late into that cold night by the warmth of the common-room fire. The silver wolf had again been brought out after being rescued from the vicious grip of the Horntail. Despite a few bite marks, it was still in one piece, and its silvery skin rippled realistically in the firelight.  
  
'So you think that this was all Storm's doing?' Harry asked.  
  
'It makes sense, doesn't it?' Hermione said, 'What else would give you a dead rabbit? She probably thought it was nice.'  
  
'And she still belongs to the Malfoys so she must've known Dobby.'  
  
'And she's been on the run for ages. You heard what Malfoy said on the train. It's likely she'd be able to find your place in all that time before she came here.'  
  
'But why, though?'  
  
'I guess we'll never know.'  
  
'Look, it's started to snow. I wouldn't want to be out there tonight. I feel sorry for anyone caught in it.'  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Far away from the safety of Hogwarts someone sat shivering in a small dungeon hidden beneath a sprawling manor house. Even the greenish slime on its damp walls had frozen solid. The fur on her back which would normally have afforded some protection against the bitter cold had been stripped away by countless whippings.  
  
Storm was not enjoying being back home. A thick, heavy chain ran from her collar to an iron ring set deep into the stone wall and rattled every time she moved. There was no sleep for the rith tonight. The burning on her back and the icy cold denied her any chance. So she cried. And she howled.  
  
It was not a night for the lively tunes she normally loved, but rather for tragic love songs, of loss, of pain and all that she felt in her empty heart.  
  
"They say there's a place where the dreams have all gone They never said where but I think I know It's miles past through the night, just over the dawn On the road that will take me home.  
  
I know in my bones that I've been here before The ground feels the same, though the land's been torn I've a long way to go, the stars tell me so On this road that will take me home.  
  
Love waits for me round the bend Leads me endlessly on Surely sorrows shall find their end And all my troubles will be gone.  
  
And I'll know what I've lost and all that I've won When this road finally takes me home  
  
And when I pass by don't lead me astray Don't try to stop me don't stand in my way I'm bound for the hills where cool waters flow On this road that will take me home.  
  
Love waits for me round the bend Leads me endlessly on Surely sorrows shall find their end And all my troubles will be gone.  
  
And we'll know what we've lost and all that we've won When this road finally takes me home.  
  
I'm going home, I'm going home, I'm going home."  
  
She smelled him before she heard him - his natural odour making her feel sick every time it pervaded her nostrils. His subtle scent of blood and fresh earth not quite hidden by all the expensive perfumes that he wore. Among the wolf world it was said that you could tell someone's character by their scent, and frankly he stank of death. She dreaded every footfall that echoed along the narrow passage, the sharp report of a metal-tipped cane making her flinch every time it sounded.  
  
The bolt shot back and the blue rith cowered away from the door. As it opened a figured filled the small frame. A figure with a smile as cold as his eyes.  
  
'Well, well, have we learned our lesson or do we have to spend another night in the cold?'  
  
There was no fight left in Storm's weary heart. She would not raise her eyes to meet in him the way she had when she was younger and far more foolish. She had learnt her lessons far harder back then. The vivid white scars still showed clearly on her face where young Draco had first learnt how to make a creature scream. She was sure she would have lost an eye that day if his father hadn't caught him - and if she hadn't been so valuable.  
  
'Good. Good. Then there's no more need for this is there?'  
  
Storm cast a quick, sidelong glance at the whip he held by his side. The stripes on her back still burnt like a blazing fire, but even if he had beaten her she was sure she wouldn't have been able to feel it over the agony already there. She had passed out the last time and wasn't willing to find out how long she could stay conscious another time.  
  
The slight light from the flaming torches outside caught the sides of a glass vial. She had seen it too many times to not know what it was for, but today she was not going to wait for the blade. Taking the fleshy part of her wrist into her mouth, she sank her sharp canines into the yielding tissue until she tasted blood. Her blood. She held out the bleeding limb to allow him to take her precious life-fluid.  
  
'Good girl, well done,' he whispered to her and stroked her head. But his touch was icier than the night outside and she knew she would have given all her blood for the same caress from another, any other.  
  
'Now, we'd best get you looking all beautiful again. We need you looking your best.'  
  
He led the broken rith away from the freezing cell, but she knew she had left her spirit within its stony walls. 


	15. Hogsmeade

Sorry it's been so long. I've been a bit busy lately, but I'll make it up in the new year. Merry Christmas!  
  
Although the term seemed to have gone on forever, the Hogsmeade weekend finally rolled around.  
  
Huddled in their warmest cloaks, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked down the main street chewing on Honeyduke's sweets and thinking of how much the village looked like a Christmas card when it was covered in snow. They decided to split up for a bit and meet back in the Three Broomsticks in an hour.  
  
Harry breathed in the chill air and savoured its crisp bite on his lungs. Everywhere he looked he saw Hogwarts students going in and out of shops and a pair were even fighting playfully in the snow. When he looked over at them he saw not a pair of third years on their first trip out, but a seventh year prefect and her boyfriend.  
  
He knew the boy - he was a Beater on the Ravenclaw team, Jason Thomas. His girlfriend he knew by sight but not by name - a tall girl with flame- red hair cut short and spiky. Their games were interrupted by a rather pale, frail-looking woman completely covered by a deep green, rather tattered, cloak with a hood that covered her head. They greeted this woman like an old friend, hugging her close, before wandering into the Three Broomsticks together.  
  
Harry looked in Zonko's joke shop, Gladrags wizard-wear and various other shops such as Grizabella's Animal Emporium and Quality Quidditch Supplies before noticing his time was up and hurried to the pub.  
  
He noticed with some annoyance that he was the first one back, despite being late. He ordered a hot butterbeer and found a free table. He couldn't help overhearing the conversation from the table behind.  
  
'Winter's come early and hard this year. Thank the seasons for a good berry harvest or we'd never make it through. Faol's already complaining about eating like a hedgehog. He's got a cold so he's whining like a baby.'  
  
'Old Faol, he's just a typical male. Yes, you're exactly the same, Mossy, my lad.'  
  
'I hardly think that's fair. But, Adhara, if you need anything all you have to do is ask. You can't let Saiph's pride mean that you and the rest starve.'  
  
'It's not Saiph that's the problem, it's Maple.'  
  
'You give Maple a kick up the arse from me, all right? Come on, call it an early Christmas present to the pack. What do you need?'  
  
Harry heard no more as at that moment Ron and Hermione walked in. He just caught sight of the Ravenclaws and the frail woman leaving. The table behind him was now empty.  
  
'Hey, Harry. Did you see the new improved dungbombs in Zonko's? Look, I bought loads.'  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and went up to the bar to get some drinks. Ron showed off his purchases proudly as Hermione deposited three steaming tankards of butterbeer on the table.  
  
'What's wrong, Harry?' she asked, noticing his long face.  
  
'Oh, I was just walking past that shop, Grizabella's.'  
  
'Storm. I know, I felt the same myself when I walked past. You don't think we could get Malfoy to give something to her, do you?'  
  
'Not a hope in hell, Hermione. Since when has Malfoy done anything nice for anyone?'  
  
'Hey, look, it's Dobby!'  
  
All three turned round and saw the free house-elf sitting on a stool near the fire clutching a miniature tankard of butterbeer made especially for elves with no alcohol content. Dobby noticed them too and started waving frantically before making his way through a sea of legs to their table and hoisting himself up onto the bench.  
  
'Hi, Dobby, how are you doing?' asked Ron  
  
'Dobby is very well, sir, thank you, but not expecting to see Harry Potter and his friends here.'  
  
'Dobby, we've got something to ask you. Was your friend from the Malfoys a blue rith called Zafyre?'  
  
Dobby sighed defeatedly, 'Yes, she was Dobby's only friend, but without Dobby there to keep her company she did something bad.'  
  
'She ran away.'  
  
'Yes, but how do you know? She sent Dobby an owl saying what she had done and how he mustn't be angry with her, but she couldn't stand it any more.'  
  
'She was at Hogwarts.'  
  
'Was? Where is she now?'  
  
'Your old master came to collect her.'  
  
Dobby started banging his head against the table for no apparent reason. Harry grabbed him by the neck before too many people began to stare, 'Stop it, Dobby.'  
  
Dobby stared up at him with dazed eyes, 'Dobby should have known. He should have sent her away so she would not be found.'  
  
'Why?'  
  
'Zafyre does not like to be alone. When Dobby was a slave we were friends, she taught Dobby how to read, something she learned from her old master and Dobby taught her how to speak. Master was cruel to her, he does not understand her.'  
  
'She can talk?'  
  
Dobby began to bang his head against the table again with furious mutterings of 'Bad Dobby!'. Harry grabbed him and took him outside.  
  
'Dobby, I know she can speak. She knew my father's name.' Dobby's great green eyes widened. 'But she only spoke after the Cruciatus curse had been done on her.'  
  
Dobby covered his ears and shook his head as if trying to get rid of some terrible noise, 'Not that.'  
  
'It's been done before?'  
  
'When she did not want to give her blood.'  
  
'Her blood?'  
  
'Rith blood is very valuable - werewolf blood you see. Master sold it, but Zafyre didn't want to give it away. Dobby cried when he heard her scream.'  
  
'Thank you, Dobby, you've been really helpful.'  
  
'Harry Potter, master mustn't know about Zafyre's. gift. She must keep it hidden or he will do terrible things. I must go now.'  
  
Harry did not need to ask who 'he' was. He waved goodbye to Dobby before going back into the pub. He was freezing because he hadn't bothered to put his cloak back on when he rushed Dobby outside. He sat back down.  
  
'What did he say?' Ron asked.  
  
'Malfoy uses the Cruciatus curse on Storm when she tries to stop him taking her blood.'  
  
'That evil old git!' Ron yelled, but was hissed into silence.  
  
'Storm can also speak, properly, but it's a guarded secret. Dobby said if Malfoy finds out he will do dreadful things to her, I don't know why, so we can't let on.'  
  
'Sure.'  
  
* * * * *  
  
The trio walked back to Hogwarts feeling rather depressed knowing what Storm must be going through, but not guessing the half of it.  
  
They sat down to dinner and were greeted with an announcement from the Headmaster.  
  
'Due to the success of last years Yule Ball we have decided to make it an annual event. It will take place on Christmas Day at eight o'clock, so get choosing your partners. That's all!'  
  
Ron and Harry looked at each other, the same question on their minds, 'Who's going to ask Hermione?'  
  
Harry broke the silence, 'At least I don't have to open it this year!'  
  
They could hear sniggering from the Slytherin table before a loud voice lifted itself, 'Hey, Potter, maybe my father should have left his rith here. But why would you need an expensive hound when you have Granger?'  
  
'You shut up, Malfoy.' Ron started, but Hermione cut him off.  
  
'Maybe he should've, Draco, but I don't think you wanted Zafyre to put you to shame when you found out she could dance better than you. But if you get desperate you can always ask Hagrid if you can borrow one of his jarveys. They'd suit you, ferret boy!'  
  
There were angry mutterings, but no more comments rose from the blonde boy and dinner was had in peace.  
  
'What're you going to wear, Ron?' Harry asked quietly. Fred and George had been on a promise to buy him some new dress robes and Harry only hoped they'd lived up to it.  
  
'Oh, I got some new dress robes over the summer - present from my brothers. They said Bagman finally gave them the money he owed them and they didn't want me looking like a prat again if we had a Yule Ball.'  
  
'That was nice of them.'  
  
'I'm just wondering what they've done to them.' 


	16. No Frontiers

A nice bit of fluff for Christmas! The song is The Corr's version of 'No Frontiers' by Mary Black.  
  
Mist.  
  
Everywhere he looked thick mist rolled and swirled around him so he could not even see his feet. Occasionally the haze parted to reveal the dark shades of what looked like great trees standing protectively around him.  
  
Very faintly, coming through the palpable silence, were what sounded like the notes of a piano. It was a peaceful melody, but who on earth would be playing a piano in the middle of a forest?  
  
The mist cleared slightly to reveal a shadowy figure standing watching him from a small rise.  
  
'Who are you?'  
  
"If life is a river and your heart is a boat, And just like a water baby, baby born to float."  
  
'Have you forgotten me so easily, Sirius?'  
  
The figure walked forward until she became clear, burgundy robes rustling around her ankles, a silver locket around her neck, long black hair falling around her shoulder and sapphire blue eyes glittering like the most precious gems in the world.  
  
'Enyana?' She looked exactly as he remembered her. He hugged her tightly as if he'd never let her go, as if it could bring her back, 'How could I ever forget you?'  
  
"Heaven knows no frontiers and I've seen heaven in your eyes."  
  
'I'm dreaming, aren't I?' She nodded, a serene smile on her face as she gently swayed him in time with the unseen voices. 'Why did they have to take you from me?'  
  
He heard her voice as clear as on the day she died, 'Things are the way they are for a reason I do not yet understand. But, oh, I've missed you.'  
  
'What is this place?'  
  
'This is where my heart belongs.'  
  
"And if life is a bar room in which we must wait 'Round the man with his fingers on the ivory gates."  
  
'You still wear that thing,' Sirius grinned as he felt a strip of fur just above her hips.  
  
'How could I go through eternity without my favourite posterior accessory?' she swished her false grey tail gently.  
  
"Where we sing until dawn of our fears and our fate."  
  
'I want to thank you, Sirius. You loved me where few others could because you didn't judge me and you understood what I was.'  
  
'I never really knew.'  
  
She reached up and stroked his face gently, 'If you ever want to know then ask Remus - he knows.'  
  
"In your eyes faint as the singing of a lark That somehow this black night Feels warmer for the spark."  
  
'What happened that night?'  
  
'It's best that you don't know, but if you ever need comfort know that the last word I spoke was your name and that my last thought was of you and I found heaven in your eyes.'  
  
"Heaven knows no frontiers and I've seen heaven in your eyes."  
  
'Life's been so hard without you.'  
  
"And if life is a rough bed of brambles and nails And your spirit's a slave to man's whips and man's jails."  
  
'Let me go, Sirius. Don't let me stand in the way of your happiness. Take back your life with the zest I loved you for. Don't let the thoughts of vengeance rule you.'  
  
"Where your thirst and your hunger for justice and right And your heart is a pure flame of man's constant night."  
  
'But I.'  
  
'Let me take care if my own justice. Just make sure you get Wormtail for Lily and James. And take care of Harry, you're the only family he has. He needs your guidance. Think, he's in his fifth year and hasn't pulled a single prank. James would be ashamed of you for letting a Marauders son go so long! Even I did more than that.'  
  
'I don't want this to ever end.'  
  
'All good things must end, but I will never be far away as long as you keep this song in your heart.'  
  
"When all will harmonise And you know what's in our hearts The dream will realise Heaven knows no frontiers And I've seen heaven in your eyes."  
  
The mist folded around her and she melted away into its white embrace leaving him alone.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sirius awoke without the usual anguish and cold sweat that dreams of Enyana provoked. Sunlight streamed into his closed eyes making them sting.  
  
He stretched languidly and thought over his dream. For the first time in almost sixteen years he felt like he'd really spoken to his love, but he couldn't quite work out if it'd been real or just his subconscious giving him a message - to get on with his life.  
  
An owl landed on the windowsill and hooted loudly in his ear. He untied the letter from its leg and made himself some breakfast before reading it. He slumped on the sofa, munching on his toast, as he read Harry's letter.  
  
Dear Uncle (they never used his name just in case the owl got intercepted), How are you? To be honest it's been pretty boring this term, nothing seems to have happened apart from Malfoy's runaway rith appearing at Hogwarts. I suppose I should be thankful for that really. The rith's gone now, but it made life a bit more interesting while she was here - plus she really annoyed Snape which was a bonus. We think Moony's fallen in love with the flying instructor, Madam Hooch! She can be a bit fierce, but Moony gets along with her really well. He seems happier now so we won't interfere. There's going to be a Yule Ball again this year so it's something to look forward to, that is if Snape doesn't pile too much homework on us! Ron and Hermione send their greetings along with a big bag of doggy treats! Hope to see you again soon. Harry.  
  
It was good to hear that Harry was all right, even if Snape was being a git as usual. Perhaps he should take some of Enyana's advice and send the kid some prank ideas. Fancy being in the fifth year without pulling a single prank! He didn't have that much time left.  
  
And it was nice that Moony had a girlfriend. That poor old wolf had been so unlucky in love because of his wolfishness.  
  
Plus he was getting bored. Remus's little cottage was nice and all, but it was rather desolate. Being a werewolf didn't make for having friendly neighbours.  
  
Perhaps Padfoot would take a little trip up to Hogwarts to visit his godson. But it'd probably be best to wait until the snow melted. 


	17. Christmas Day

'Harry! Wake up Harry!'  
  
A pillow hit the side of his bed and woke Harry up. He looked bleary eyed at Ron and saw him sitting up with an open box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and presents scattered on his bed.  
  
'Happy Christmas, Harry!'  
  
'Happy Christmas, Ron! Happy Christmas, Seamus! NEVILLE!'  
  
Neville started from his snores as if someone had given him an electric shock. 'Wha. What?'  
  
'Happy Christmas, Neville!'  
  
'Oh, Happy Christmas, Harry!'  
  
Harry seized his own pile of presents and frantically began tearing off the paper. Soon his bed too was littered with presents - a box of sweets from Hagrid, a bag of Zonko's tricks from Ron, 'The Thorny Rose - A History of the England Quidditch Team' from Hermione, the traditional knitted jumper and load of mince pies from Mrs Weasley, a pair of socks from Dobby and a huge box of various goodies from Sirius and Remus, including a long list of prank ideas.  
  
Finally he was left with one badly wrapped package that was very small. It looked oddly familiar. He tore off the note to reveal a scrawl not quite as untidy as that which he had received on his birthday, but it was close.  
  
'Dear Harry,  
  
I sent you this to thank you and your friends for what you did for me in the short time I was at Hogwarts. For those weeks I truly believed I could be happy again and it was all because of you three. I have not known much friendship or contentment in my life and what you gave me is more than words can say. I will always have the memory of it in my heart and perhaps it will keep me sane. I have survived thirteen years here so what is few more?  
  
Your friend,  
  
Storm.  
  
P.S. Please don't send any letters back as it will only mean trouble for me.'  
  
Harry unwrapped the package to reveal a wooden figure of a dragon, but unlike the Horntail this one sat benevolently still, a serene expression on its carved face.  
  
Harry looked over at Ron and saw that he had one too, although his looked like it was about to take off.  
  
'Who's it from?' he asked. Harry threw him the note and saw his face fall. 'God, I wonder what sort of a Christmas she's having. I wonder if Hermione got one too?'  
  
'Let's go find out.'  
  
They went downstairs to where Hermione was already sitting by the fire in the common room.  
  
'Merry Christmas!'  
  
'Hermione, did you get a dragon made out of wood?'  
  
'Oh, you mean this? I was wondering who it was from.' Harry and Ron looked at the dragon - it appeared to be calling the stars down from the sky.  
  
'Here, read this,' Harry gave her the note.  
  
'Oh. I didn't realise we touched her so much. Do you reckon Lucius knows about this?'  
  
'I doubt it. I don't think he even knows she can write. She says she'll get into trouble if we send anything back.'  
  
'Now I feel really guilty.' Ron slumped down on a comfy chair.  
  
'Come on, forget about it, it's Christmas! She sounds cheerful enough. I'm hungry, who's for some breakfast?'  
  
The day passed with copious amounts of food, sweets and snowball fights before people began to dissolve away to get ready for the Ball. Harry had asked Cho Chang and this time she hadn't refused. Ron had jumped in first and asked Hermione - she hadn't been short of offers considering how she had looked last year - so Ron now got envious looks from most of the boys.  
  
Even the teachers were excited about the event. Except for one and it was no surprise who that was. Severus sat in his chambers making no effort. He wasn't even going to go. He tried to make out that he despised large social gatherings, but in truth he was shy, not wanting to be the only one without a partner, receiving suspicious looks from the students. But worse would be if he did have a partner - he could see it now, the whispering, the sniggering.  
  
He took down the one photograph he kept in his rooms - not of his family or friends, he didn't really have either - it was of Enyana. He remembered an event similar to the Yule Ball, his Leavers Ball, where he'd asked her and she'd accepted. He was sure she'd only done it to make Sirius jealous, but it didn't matter. She had said yes to him. He loved feeling her that close when they'd danced, felt the softness of her skin, felt her breathe, he could even feel her heart beat in her chest. His photo wasn't of that night, however, but of a few days before that, just before he left Hogwarts.  
  
Enyana was going out with Black at the time, who was very overprotective of her, but she was friends with him. It was just after she'd finished the final game against Gryffindor, which Ravenclaw had lost 150 points to 160, and was walking back to the shower rooms with her team mates. He thought she looked so sexy when she'd been playing, her hair all wild, her face streaked with sweat and her eyes bright. He'd asked if he could have a picture with her. She got a friend to hold the camera while they stood side by side. Then at the last minute she'd jumped into his arms, laughing.  
  
He looked at the photo and he couldn't remember a time before or since when he'd smiled so widely. Once the photo had been taken she'd leapt down again and he'd blurted out like an idiot, 'I think I love you!'  
  
She'd turned with what he took to be pity in her eyes, 'That's really sweet, Severus, I'm flattered. I really like you, but I love Sirius. I think you're a thoroughly nice guy, deep down. You should try and show it more often and believe me you'll have all the girls after you. I've really got to shower, I'm sweating like a pig!'  
  
Shortly afterwards Black had come up and threatened him because he was "annoying Enyana". Enyana had, however, caught him at it and this had sparked off a big row. They still weren't talking at the Ball so Severus had asked her to go with him and she'd agreed. But afterwards Black and Enyana made it up during a long talk in the grounds. She'd taken Black into the Forest, he followed them and that's when he'd found out what she was - a Lupuscan. There were wolves everywhere around her and she yapped and barked with the best of them. Black just grinned dreamily as if enjoying the whole thing. He, of course, had been horrified by it. He'd run away when they started howling.  
  
He'd always been a deeply insecure person with few friends and no one to confide in so he now found comfort in work and being alone. He'd probably go out later on to make sure that no one was destroying the shrubbery like they were last year. He only hoped they'd learnt their lesson, but he doubted it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
For Harry and Ron the Ball was a much bigger success than last year. They were both partnered with girls they thoroughly liked (not that they didn't like Parvati and Padma) and maybe even loved, especially in Harry's case. They enjoyed every minute of it. Both girls once again looked stunning and both boys got several envious glances from others who either were without dates or got last pick. But the real stars of the evening were Justin Finch- Fletchley and the Ravenclaw Prefect Lucy Seymour.  
  
Harry and Cho were taking a rest next to Justin and his partner, Hannah Abbot, when the spiky haired girl came over to them.  
  
'Come on, 'Teo, show me if you Hufflepuffs can dance!'  
  
Lucy's boyfriend, Jason Thomas, held out his hand to Hannah and she blushed as she stood up with him. Lucy winked at a member of the band who she obviously knew and a lively reel kicked off. Soon there were various whoops and shouts around the pair. The dancers had moved away to leave an open circle in which Justin and Lucy were dancing.  
  
It was amazing, it was almost as if they could read each others minds as they kept in perfect step. At one point Justin even managed to lift Lucy right off her feet where she performed and acrobatic little twirl in the air. With the final notes they finished facing each other like professional dancers breathing heavily.  
  
'Not bad, you'll learn!' Lucy panted at him through the applause.  
  
'Thanks, Brack!'  
  
Harry took Cho outside, scared at first, and they sat down on a bench together. Neither knew what to say, but when they looked in each others eyes they realised that they didn't need to say a thing. It felt so right, so easy, that when they broke away from the most passionate kiss of their lives they didn't feel any of the embarrassment that usually followed such an incident. All Harry could find in his brain and coming out of his mouth was 'Wow!'  
  
'I never get tired of hearing that.'  
  
Their arms slipped around each other and they leant in again to taste the deepest magic of all.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Severus was walking the grounds, occasionally blasting apart bushes and taking points off the occupants as they ran for cover. 'Ten points from Gryffindor, Bell, and you Weasley!' As he disturbed the cover of one couple there was a loud shriek and a half-naked girl shot off like a hare to be quickly followed by a strawberry blonde boy with his robes tied around his waist to hide his manhood. Snape was disgusted to see that they were both from his own house. 'I'll see you in my office first thing tomorrow, Grimsdale,' he shouted after the boy, 'tell that to Miss Walden as well!'  
  
Snape wandered the lawns and saw that a couple had even had the audacity to put a neon sign claiming that the bush was 'engaged' flashing over a particularly thickset rose bush well known to have a hollow heart. He decided to be a bit more subtle with this one so he could get a good look at the impudent students that dared to make their actions so obvious. He cast a medium sized stone into the core of the plant and was rewarded with a cry. Next thing he knew a familiar spiky head popped out through the foliage.  
  
'How many times have I warned you little bastards, now f. Oh, hello Professor!'  
  
Snape stood staring with his coldest glare, but Lucy's annoyance at being disturbed had almost turned to a cheerful grin when she'd greeted him and she was putting on her best cockney accent.  
  
'You've just caught me in the middle of something, if you come back a bit later it would be a more convenient time!'  
  
'Oh really, Miss Seymour, what on earth.'  
  
'Excuse me, Professor!'  
  
The head disappeared back into the green depths and was replaced by a lot of giggling and odd exclamations.  
  
'No, stop it, stop it! Take it off!'  
  
'It's all twisted, hang on!'  
  
'Ow! You're pinching me!'  
  
'Stop biting!'  
  
Severus lost patience and rattled the branches. This time two heads popped up like jack-in-the-boxes, the boy's long hair having collected twigs and leaves. Both wore the same inane smile and, by the looks of them, little else.  
  
'Is that all of you, Thomas, or do you have anyone else hidden in there?'  
  
'No. That's it, sir, unless you're propositioning me?'  
  
'Fifty points off Ravenclaw for your barefaced.' there were more snorts of laughter at this, the reason clear to anyone with a little imagination, '.audaciousness and another fifty for your cheek.' At which there was more hilarity where the pair could hardly contain themselves and held onto each other for support.  
  
Through the hoots Snape was just able to make out, 'So. that's. that's twelve and a half. per. per cheek!'  
  
'You will both report to my office at ten o'clock tomorrow morning from where, if I am not satisfied, we will see that Headmaster.'  
  
It still hadn't wiped the silly grin off the girl's face, 'Do you reckon he'll want a full explanation of what we were doing, sir?'  
  
Exasperated at fighting a loosing battle, Severus left them to it, but it was Jason who had the last word. Standing proud to the world, the boy shouted and waved frantically at the retreating Professor, 'Why are you so ashamed of our love, my darling? Come and see me again soon!'  
  
Lots of people saw and pointed at Jason and the retreating teacher who looked rather ruffled and came to their own conclusion. Lucy had already sunk back into the leafy haven and Jason rapidly joined her with a growl, knowing that it was doubtful that they would be disturbed again. They left their sign flashing just in case.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Diana had watched the whole scene with growing amusement from her perch on the castle battlements. Of all the teachers she thought she knew Jason and Lucy the best, but even their boldness sometimes surprised her. She'd been there the first time they ever really met and knew that they'd be a couple no matter what. Both of them had been so shy and introverted before they met each other and they'd come on in leaps and bounds. They wouldn't have said boo to a goose a few years back, but now look at them. Sometimes it was best to get things out in the open.  
  
She missed Remus. He'd gone back to his cottage for the holidays, saying he had some business to attend to there and it was best if she didn't come. They knew each other intimately and from that she knew that he was hiding something but decided not to press the matter. Remus was still so shy and scared of the gift that he had been given. The hardest thing was convincing him that it was a gift, 'I wish Colvarn was still around,' she muttered to herself, 'He'd know what to say. Or even Hazzy. Why do you buggers always have to die when I need you?' But there was something different about Remus, he was changing, oh so gradually. When he noticed she'd have to explain the switch to him. She just hoped he wouldn't be too freaked out.  
  
Diana heard a shuffling noise behind her and hid her biggest secret beneath her robes. She turned round and her amber eyes saw a young figure in blue pyjamas ascending the stairwell.  
  
'Hello, Aisling.'  
  
The girl jumped, 'Oh, hello Madam Hooch.'  
  
Diana gave the girl her friendliest smile and indicated that she should sit on the next battlement.  
  
'It's a wild night. You never know what these sixth and seventh years will get up to when they're given the chance.'  
  
The girl laughed and looked up at the half-moon that shone brightly down on them. 'I wonder what the moon thinks of it all?'  
  
'She's seen it all before, and a lot worse. I bet she's bored of it all by now. Do you often come up here at night?' The girl wouldn't answer. 'It's all right, I'm not going to tell you off. We all need a place to go.'  
  
Aisling shifted uncomfortably, 'Yes, when I can't sleep I mean. It's peaceful up here and I can think without anyone disturbing me.'  
  
'What do you think about?'  
  
'This and that, sometimes nothing at all.' Aisling stayed quiet for a little while as if deciding to trust the teacher, 'Madam Hooch, do you ever feel like you're different from everyone else?'  
  
'Everyone's different, aren't they?'  
  
'No, I mean really different. Like you don't belong?'  
  
'Sometimes. I think everyone feels like that at some time or other.'  
  
'I have these really weird dreams.'  
  
'Nightmares?'  
  
'I don't think so, they don't scare me as such, but they're always the same. There's always a white wolf and she's trying to tell me something and lead me somewhere.'  
  
'She?'  
  
'I don't know why but I always feel that she's female. Is that important?'  
  
'I don't think so. Go on.'  
  
'Whenever I have that dream I always sleepwalk and I always end up in the same place.'  
  
'In the Astronomy Tower where I found you.'  
  
Aisling nodded, 'What do you think they mean?'  
  
'Normally I'd ask the Divination teacher, but.'  
  
The Irish girl laughed, 'Professor Trelawney, my brother told me all about her. So what do you think?'  
  
'Dreams are strange things - most of them mean nothing at all, but certain ones do. If we don't get the point they normally repeat themselves. Do you have any idea why you might be dreaming about wolves?'  
  
'I've always liked them, I suppose, but I don't know why it's so important.'  
  
'I think you might have a spirit guide who takes the shape of a white wolf. She's showing you the path along which you will travel and she wants to help you. Most people have spirit guides, but only the lucky ones know about them.'  
  
They sat silently for a while Aisling took this in before she asked another question, this one a lot more deep and troubling, 'Do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong body? Like you should be something else?'  
  
Diana pondered how to answer this question and thought with relief how the girl had asked her this question and not one of the other students or teachers who would either have laughed at her or called her mad, 'As a matter of fact, I believe I do and I'm glad you trusted me with this. I know how hard it can be to feel so different, but there's help for all in this place. What do you see yourself as in you mind, not in the mirror?' Aisling took out a drawing and handed it to the teacher. Diana studied the figure on the parchment closely, 'This is really good, did you do this?' The girl nodded, 'I think I understand now. Does she have a name?'  
  
'Firethorn.'  
  
'Firethorn? I like it. This is how you see you? All I can say now is that you probably don't understand why you feel that way, but with age and a little guidance from the white wolf, and a couple of your House mates, you'll understand.'  
  
'Do you feel like this too?'  
  
'I did at your age, but now I understand what I really am, and some day you will too, so don't fret.'  
  
'Can I ever look like Firethorn?'  
  
'If you ever feel like that is what you truly want then there are ways, but it takes a skilled witch or wizard to do them. So study hard and think harder, do you want to look like Firethorn or are you Firethorn? If you ever need me don't hesitate to talk to me. Now you'd better get back to bed before you catch your death of cold.'  
  
'Thank you, Madam Hooch.'  
  
'You call me Raq and I'll call you Firethorn.'  
  
'Thank you Raq!'  
  
Diana watched Aisling skip back down the stairs and everything became a lot more confusing. Lupus was making her presence felt again, but why in one so young? She didn't normally contact new recruits until their fifth year. There had only been one new member this year and she was already seeing a change. Life was difficult to one with so many responsibilities. She wondered how Saiph did it. Or any of the others.  
  
She laid back and stretched out across several battlements, her arms behind her head. Her long robes hung around her and a fluffy grey tail dangled over the side where it twitched and waved in time with its owners troubled thoughts. It was going to be a long night. 


	18. Old Scars Run Deep

In the Malfoy Manor Zafyre had no escape from her nightmarish existence. When she was awake she had to contend with being nothing more than an animal, but in sleep the memories that haunted her were far worse and every day provided more fodder for her mind to torture her with in the nights to come.  
  
But tonight was different. Instead of the usual jumble of past, present and future events and fears her vision was clear and she thought it was real, it had been real. It was a warm summer evening and all around her there were smiling faces - the faces she loved, the same faces she had always known. Her family. Despite dark times the mood was light, jovial, even celebratory. All raised their glasses to a newborn baby.  
  
But the happy scene changed. Glasses shattered as strangers entered the room. There was blood, blood everywhere and people screaming, running, fighting for their lives. She was scared - her family tried to resist but it was useless. There were flashes of green and dead faces. All she loved were dying around her, their eyes open but staring at nothing.  
  
She tried to fight, but they laughed at her. She didn't understand what was going on - it wasn't in her power to understand as her family were murdered by the laughing figures in black robes. She was bound by one and watched as those who had fled were caught, returned and executed. She screamed, she howled, she didn't want to see, didn't want to hear each dull thud as another body hit the ground. Enyana was shouting and shrieking at them - she was still alive, this was all done because of her, because she wouldn't degrade herself to save them. Her family wouldn't let her.  
  
Once the rest were dead they tortured Enyana. Her body was ripped and torn until she wasn't Enyana any more, she was alive but unbroken. She spat at her torturers as a final act of defiance. Then they killed her with a word, a word that was still unclear. Her body burned to nothing, but even at the last she wouldn't give in and she called his name, the one she had died for, 'Sirius!'  
  
One reached into a piled of grey ash and removed her engagement ring. He put it inside his robes, snapped the wand that Enyana had used to defend herself and threw it contemptuously on the mound.  
  
All that was left was a cobalt rith. As the last of her family she was going to go down with the dignity of her family. She curled her lips and readied her fangs to take some of the scum with her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Narcissa Malfoy watched as her pet writhed and twitched in dreams and wondered, not for the first time, what it is that dogs dream about. She swirled the honey coloured wine absent-mindedly in its glass and gazed blankly into the fire.  
  
She remembered the day when Lucius had brought Zafyre home, said he got her from an old friend. She'd had her hands full with Draco - the terrible twos for a young Malfoy put other tots to shame. He was a headstrong young fiend whose only ambition was to get his own way. He was much like his father and someday it was going to cause a clash one day once Draco realised how strong he was and that he didn't have to bend under his father's iron will.  
  
When Lucius had brought Zafyre back the poor creature had looked so frightened, so unsure that for once she'd found something that really needed her.  
  
She'd loved watching Draco and Zafyre play when Draco was still a little boy. Zafyre had endless patience with the child's pinching and poking, but it was the day they first met that stuck most firmly in her mind.  
  
She'd waited until Lucius had gone to work, things were always so much calmer when he wasn't around. Zafyre had been at the Mansion for over a week, but kept away from the main house until she'd gotten used to her new masters. She'd left Draco playing on the grass in the summer sunshine while she collected the rith.  
  
The creature was still unsure of her surroundings, but had shown no malice towards anyone. Still, Narcissa kept her wand close at hand just in case, she didn't want to risk any harm to her little boy.  
  
Both rith and child had studied each other curiously for a while before Zafyre, on all four feet, had advanced towards Draco sniffing gently as if she couldn't quite work out what he was and if he was dangerous. When she got within inches of his face the boy slapped the rith on her striped muzzle. The wolf jumped backwards in shock. She sat back on her haunches, her head cocked to one side, regarding the boy with some confusion and occasionally looking up at Narcissa as if for guidance, her ears pricked and their long white tufts blowing in the breeze. Suddenly a light seemed to dawn, Zafyre's feathery tail began to wag and she flattened with her front paws wide in a 'play with me' position before capering around Draco like a mad puppy.  
  
Draco had laughed at the creature's antics before joining in the game. Narcissa had watched them with the simple pleasure of watching innocents at play and Draco's obvious fascination with the rith's marbled colour pattern, tracing the stripes and swirls with a chubby hand.  
  
Being the heir of the Malfoy family, Narcissa doubted if the young boy would have his innocence much longer, so she was going to appreciate it while it lasted. Draco had fallen asleep with his head on Zafyre's flank and his fingers curled in her soft fur. The rith laid her head on her paws and tried to move as little as possible so she wouldn't disturb the child.  
  
It wasn't like she didn't love Lucius - he's given her everything she could've ever desired - but a leopard an never change its spots, and a Malfoy's spots ran deeper than most. What chance did her poor little boy have? His father held a powerful influence over him - she hadn't realised how powerful until Draco was six years old.  
  
She'd been upstairs when she'd heard the scream. She'd raced downstairs to find that Lucius had already assessed the situation and was handling it. His voice was coldly calm.  
  
'How many times have I told you not to play with knives?'  
  
Knives? She heard Draco whimper - his father's deadly calm was infinitely more frightening to the boy than a rage, but Lucius had no patience with a child's fear, 'Get out of my sight.'  
  
The boy ran past her without noticing her with tears in his eyes and, she was horrified to see, blood on his hands. She'd helped Draco clean himself up and found out that he wasn't hurt, but she could get no sense out of him about what had happened. She'd shut him in his room and went back downstairs.  
  
Lucius was still in the study where the incident had happened. Narcissa blanched. There was blood everywhere, but mainly on the floor. In the centre of all the spreading stains was Zafyre clutching at her face.  
  
Lucius had had done apparently nothing to help the writhing rith, but what he had been doing was obvious from the little bottles of deep red liquid on his desk. No one could ever say that Lucius Malfoy wasted opportunities. He watched the creature's agony with a sick sort of satisfaction.  
  
Narcissa knelt down, careful to avoid getting stains on her expensive dress, and talked softly to Zafyre. She could see blood oozing from between the rith's stubby claws, red on black, dripping onto the carpet. She managed to prise the gory paws away from Zafyre's mutilated face. Two deep gashes, one stretching from jaw to brow and the other across her sensitive muzzle, disfigured her once attractive countenance.  
  
She blamed Lucius for bleeding Zafyre in front of the impressionable young Draco but said nothing for fear of incurring her husband's wrath. Draco lost his innocence that day, and Zafyre lost her trust.  
  
Narcissa covered up the gashes the same way she did with the bleed marks - via a concealment spell. She would have got rid of them but she was no dab hand with charms or potions, so she covered them up in the hope that no one would ever find them. But now someone had.  
  
She was snapped out of her reverie by her husband's entry into the room. She invited him wordlessly over to sit with her. Lucius smiled at his wife, but it was a smile that would have chilled the hearts of others. Narcissa had grown immune to Lucius's intimidating countenance, but Zafyre sure hadn't. Normally, even when asleep, the rith seemed to sense his presence and would tense away from him. In younger years Zafyre had actually seemed to go out of her way to defy Lucius, but those days were long dead. He was not one to confront if you were in his power and had used awful ways to put the wolf back in her place.  
  
Zafyre was like Narcissa's second child and she'd always believed the rith to be a lot cleverer than she had let on, but when Lucius had brought her back up from the hidden dungeons the last time, her back was stripped bare and her eyes so lost and dull, it had wrenched her heart but she had known better than to show it. Even though Lucius had got someone to get rid of the scars there were echoes of them in the rith's bright blue eyes, and something deeper too.  
  
Despite normality Zafyre slept on, her dream too vivid and terrifying to let the disturbances of reality to creep in. But the sounds outside became part of the nightmare - footsteps on the carpet became that of the enemy advancing toward her, the air current of a husband reaching out to his wife was the drawing of the wand that poised to kill her. But she was going to give him something to remember her by.  
  
Narcissa noticed the change, the quickening in Zafyre's breathing, the slowing of dream convulsions, the lips drawing back, the muscles tensing and she tried to warn Lucius.  
  
Too late.  
  
With the speed of a striking snake Zafyre twisted her body and leapt up, jaws agape and finding their mark.  
  
Blood fresh and sweet ran over her tongue and she savoured the taste, biting harder and tearing the tender flesh. Her eyes opened and met Lucius's pain frozen face as her jagged, bone-crushing teeth pushed further through the yielding muscles of his arm. She loosened her grip slightly as reality flooded back into her brain, but this time she wasn't going to surrender. She pushed in harder and was rewarded by a fresh spurt of blood into her mouth and a cry of agony from her master. Blood for blood.  
  
Narcissa watched frozen in horror as Zafyre, her gentle Zafyre, shifted her jaw grip and began to shake her husband's arm like a rat, a twisted smile on her savage face and liquid like red wine spilling from the sides of her mouth onto the expensive carpet like the reverse of what happened years ago.  
  
It was over in seconds. Lucius balled his fist and caught Zafyre a terrible blow that sent her flying across the room to hit against the opposite wall. Multicoloured spots and stripes danced before her eyes, but she almost laughed. She had finally done what she had wanted to for thirteen years and she didn't care any more. She licked her lips so she would remember the taste for the rest of her life. The blood of rabbits and rats seemed bitter in comparison. So this was why werewolves went looking for human prey.  
  
Narcissa immediately tried to help her husband staunch the flow from his bleeding limb, but he wanted no help. His mangled arm hung uselessly by his side and he was in a towering rage. She shuddered when she saw Zafyre lick her lips - there was no remorse for what she had done. In fact she seemed rather pleased with herself. She just hoped this wasn't a prelude to Draco's rebellion.  
  
'I'm taking that damned creature down to the dungeons and if it dies before the trial then so be it!'  
  
Lucius would have his revenge on the wolf that dared to taste the pure blood of the Malfoy family, but not in front of his gentle wife who would not be able to stand some of the punishments that he had in mind. Zafyre sat grinning to herself as if nothing could touch her. 


	19. The Red Moon Rises

I am sooo sorry this took so long. I've been a little distracted recently and haven't had much time to write (damn you work!) so I'm giving you three chapters in one go! This one is one of my favourites because of the Lupuscan chant (which is based on a Nordic werewolf ritual) and the introduction of Saiph's character. Please remember to review, it feeds my ego and makes me write faster!  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Remus hated lunar eclipses.  
  
The very sight of the red moon sent the wolf in him crazy – no, correction – sent him crazy. He no longer thought of him and the wolf as two separate beings trapped in the same body. Since accepting the wolf he had begun to think more like one, both halves thought in the same way, but he'd changed and he knew it and not just in his head. He just wondered if it was normal. He needed Raq to explain it to him. No, he just needed Raq. He sat down and waited for night to fall.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Professor Dumbledore stood to address his students before dinner.  
  
'Tonight is a very special night for we have a full lunar eclipse. All Astronomy students who wish to watch will please meet Professor Sinistra outside the main hall immediately after supper. All others will please stay in their common rooms due to unforeseen circumstances which could put safety in hazard.' Harry did not miss Snape's sneering glance at Lupin's empty seat. 'Prefects must make sure that this rule is particularly adhered to tonight. That is all.'  
  
'What do you suppose that was all about?' Ron asked as her bit into a chicken leg.  
  
Harry just shrugged. But Hermione had an answer as usual, 'I've read about this ("Surprise surprise," Ron mouthed at Harry). It said that on the full lunar eclipse the moon turns blood red. When this happens it's a signal to all werewolves to create havoc and destruction. They have no control whatsoever.'  
  
'I hope Moony will be all right.'  
  
'He's got the wolfsbane potion so he should be, but who knows what goes through a werewolf's mind when a blood moon is up?'  
  
* * * * *  
  
Diana, however, knew exactly. She'd gathered up as much meat as she could without arising suspicion and hurried off to Remus's office.  
  
She heard him a long way off down the corridor, pacing like a lion in a cage, occasionally calling softly. She walked in and shut the door behind her.  
  
'I thought you might be hungry,' she dumped a small pile of chicken legs on his desk before stuffing the rest into a small bag.  
  
'Where are you going with that lot?' he asked between vast mouthfuls of tender meat.  
  
'I'm visiting friends tonight. I said I'd bring the appetiser. Fancy joining me?'  
  
'It's a red moon tonight, Raq. I can't, I don't trust myself.'  
  
'You're switching aren't you?'  
  
'What do you mean switching?'  
  
'Oh god, Moony, I see it in your eyes. You know exactly what's happening but you don't want to admit it to yourself. I should have warned you about this. Please don't be angry with me, I never thought it'd happen this quickly.'  
  
'I'm turning into a wolf, aren't I?'  
  
'As it is inside it is outside, one mind, one body. I don't know how far you'll go, but I really think you should meet my friends. I know at least one can explain it better than I can. He's been through it, but you might not like what you see.'  
  
Remus knew he shouldn't be, but he was excited. He hadn't been outside on a full moon since he was at school. He felt something move and tried to stop it. 'Tonight?'  
  
Raq grinned, 'Tonight. You'll hunt like the wolf you are under the red moon. Tell you what, I'll show you mine, you show me yours.'  
  
'What are you talking about?'  
  
Diana pulled away a catch in her robes to let a long silver-grey tail unfurl into the open air. 'Mmm, it feels good to have a bit of air running through the fur.'  
  
'You have a tail?'  
  
'What, you didn't think I was this grey through teaching, did you? Not even Neville Longbottom could do that to me. I tell you what, though, it's a great advantage when playing quidditch. Come on, where's yours?'  
  
Remus loosened a strap that had held his greatest embarrassment against his leg. It had been painful, but the greatest shock had been when he had transformed back after a moon and found the appendage still there. It was about half the size of an average wolf tail and its dark grey fur was streaked with rusty brown.  
  
Diana studied it and laughed, 'I think after tonight you might have a proper tail. I like the patterns on your fur, though.' She growled playfully. 'It's all right, I'll teach you how to hide it.'  
  
* * * * *  
  
Once again the hallways of Hogwarts were full of prowlers. One subtle, breathless entity padded the ancient stones with silent feet – feet that would have sunk through if she let them. Few knew of her existence, fewer knew her name. Even the other ghosts of Hogwarts had little idea of their neighbour's presence. But tonight was a night for wanderers and dreamers, the savage and the wild, and she was all of these. She was the true guardian and she was proud of the part she played in guarding the Hall of Dreams against those who would not understand what lay within. She bounded along the ways she knew to a place where she could watch over her followers for they would honour her tonight and she wanted to see what had become of them.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Nightmares prevented Severus from sleeping. Golden eyes had seemed to watch him from every possible place, and some impossible ones.  
  
He never liked to admit fear – but this was terror. It was so real he could almost taste it and it drove him from his bed. Every time he blinked he saw a pair of malevolent yellow eyes glaring back at him. Red light filtered through the small window, making metal and glass look as if it were drenched in blood.  
  
He pulled on a robe and took to the corridors to make sure that no one had been so foolish as to venture out. His suspicions had not lessened about the Lupuscans and if any they'd be the ones to cause chaos tonight. Still, he should be able to handle a few idiotic students with moronic werewolf fantasies. He'd seen first hand the destruction that the Lupuscans had caused during Voldemort's reign and he for one didn't want the cult to be revived.  
  
But there was one werewolf in the school which had to be checked upon first.  
  
As soon as he reached the passageway in which Lupin had his office he could tell that something was wrong. He could hear... nothing. Not a whine, not a scrape, not a movement – nothing. He hurried forward to find the door wide open and Remus gone. He quickly checked the place over and found a goblet on his desk, the potion inside now still and useless, but undrunk.  
  
'Damned fool he hasn't taken his potion. Doesn't he know how many peoples lives he's put in danger?'  
  
Severus was outraged, but he was also scared. There was a mindless werewolf now running about Hogwarts School and he alone had to capture and restrain him. He steeled his mind to the task and set about it, wand ready in hand.  
  
He scoured the many torchlit passages and stairways, but, although he didn't know it, he was being watched. A slim figure slipped like a ghost behind the Potions Master, her ears pricked and footsteps silent. But when she reached the window that she had deliberately left open she disappeared out of it and Snape lost the shadow he didn't even realise he had.  
  
It was near the main entrance that the hunter found his quarry. Claws clicked sharply on the flagstones as Remus loped down the stairs towards the doors and his freedom.  
  
'Stop right there, Lupin!'  
  
The dark grey wolf with white and rusty markings stared up at him with a look of utter contempt on his lupine face before carrying on his quest for fresh air. Remus could feel the cool breeze with all its delicious scents through the cracks.  
  
'Adligare!' Severus yelled and ropes shot out of the end of his wand, binding the struggling werewolf paw and jaw. 'You idiot, Lupin. Do you know how many lives you've put in danger, you stupid fucking wolf! You're nothing but a useless dumb animal, you understand me?'  
  
'I'd let my brother go, if I were you.'  
  
Severus jumped sharply. He hadn't realised anyone else was watching him. He looked up and what he saw made his heart pound like a hammer against his ribs. Bathed in the red light of the moon was the biggest wolf he had ever seen.  
  
It would have been pure white in colour if it hadn't been in the path of the moon's light. It lounged gracefully along the wooden railing at the top of the stairs, its tail hanging down beside it. It seemed perfectly relaxed and not in the least perturbed by his presence.  
  
Snape tried to clear the lump in his throat and unstick his tongue from the roof of his dry mouth, 'Who are you?'  
  
The wolf slid off the railing and fell towards the ground floor. It landed with barely a sound on all four feet before rising onto two. It advanced towards him, muscles rippling all over its body and its very gait radiating raw power. If it weren't for its pricked ears it would have stood as tall as him, but it wasn't its ears that scared him, it was its eyes. The colour of pure gold, they were ringed in scarlet. The eyes of a savage king.  
  
'I think the question is, who are you?'  
  
'I, I am Professor Severus Snape, Master of this school.'  
  
The wolf laughed and it was not pleasant. 'Really? I was always under the impression that Albus Dumbledore was master of this school, Severus was it?'  
  
Severus pointed his wand at the creature, 'Get out of this school, wolf, before I kill you!'  
  
The wolf snorted derisively, 'I wouldn't point that thing at me, chap, d'ye ken? Now are you going to let my brother go or do we have to make this unpleasant?'  
  
'He's a werewolf!'  
  
'Really? You don't say!' The white wolf had placed one of his hand-like paws under his chin and was fighting back a smile. 'Well, be that as it may, I have business to attend to and it would make my life so much easier if you just let Moony go and run off to bed like a good little boy before I tear your throat out.'  
  
'Do not threaten me!' Snape yelled, and began to speak a curse, but the wolf advanced further, his lips drawn off his impressive teeth, reciting an ancient chant and making the Potions Master step back in fear.  
  
'In the heat of the night when the stars shine bright O'er plain and dew-flecked hill Will the red moon rise for the Goldeneyes To bathe in the bloody rill.'  
  
Snape had not even noticed that he had been pushed outside and the white wolf had circled him round until he had his back to the doors. They slammed shut behind him and two figures in black cloaks emerged from the shadows, carrying on the barbaric rhyme.  
  
'Their song is dark and the spirits hark To hear these wild wolves call'  
  
From the darkness another wolf appeared, black but for his yellow eyes.  
  
'So off to the chase and find your place There's throats in the dark to maul!'  
  
Another wolf, this time a steely grey approached from the other side.  
  
'Run on your way, or please do stay, For we have bellies to fill'  
  
A slender woman with and a salt-and-pepper tail and pricked wolf ears actually came so close as to stroke his face, her amber eyes flashing in the dark. Remus was now free and joined the growing circle.  
  
'Or be the fool and play it cool While you have blood to spill!'  
  
Another wolf's white patches caught the ruby light along with one whose reddish colour made him look as if he'd bathed in blood.  
  
'Tis night, 'tis night, and the great wolfs' might Will make its victims flee'  
  
A wolf that was so pale a grey that she was almost white added her voice to the chant.  
  
'With our fierce grey heads and stealthy treads As we chase you through the trees.'  
  
All ten members weaved sinuous patterns around the terrified man as they rose their voices as one.  
  
'In the heat of the night when the stars shine bright O'er plain and dew-flecked hill Will the red moon rise for the Goldeneyes To bathe in the bloody rill!'  
  
Snape hadn't been this scared since he'd rejoined the Death Eaters. It was like a nightmare come to life.  
  
They advanced in step, tightening the circle, licking their lips and clicking their teeth. The large white male stepped aside deliberately to offer Snape one last chance to escape. He took it. Running as fast as he could, he took one last look at the Circle. It was a stupid mistake. Tripping over a fallen branch he cracked his head against the stone wall. The white king tutted.  
  
'Didn't his mother ever warn him to look where he was going?'  
  
'And not to take on an enemy until you know its full strength?' The black wolf sniggered.  
  
'Hmm, quite. Come, to the chase, to the chase!'  
  
A howling from the roof of the castle halted him. Three figures in long robes called to him. He saluted them, raising a clawed paw to the sky. 'And good hunting to you too, my brethren!'  
  
The ten on the ground howled to the three above, their song lifting to the red moon above, before the ten turned and bounded away into the forest, some on four feet and some on two.  
  
High above them three students of Hogwarts watched their pack disappear on a hunt and wished with all their hearts that they were going with them, the scent of blood in their nostrils and their bare feet pounding against the earth. 


	20. The Aftermath

Dawns first rays began to pale the deep blue sky, making the harsh frost coating every blade of grass glitter like diamonds.  
  
Two bare-footed figures left a trail of melted ice in their wake, a clear track of footsteps. One was dressed in a borrowed robe that hung loose around his spare shoulders, the other wore a short deerskin tunic from beneath which a furry grey tail sprouted and waved in the still, cold air. A long black cloak hung from her arms as she savoured the tingling sensation of the cold morning on her bare skin. It was a tradition not to wear too much so it wouldn't snag on branches or hinder movement.  
  
Both were exhausted from the nights exertions and walked in comfortable silence side by side.  
  
For the first time ever Remus had enjoyed being a werewolf. He'd become separated from Raq when she'd taken pride of place next to the white king at the head of the pack. He'd paired up with the pale female whose name was Kelyn.  
  
He hadn't realised how much he'd been missing – all those years of solitary nights when he'd been locked away like an outcast he could've been out on the hunt, or singing his soul out, or telling stories, or, or... There were countless 'ors'. But his worst shame was that he hadn't known how unfit he was until he was in pursuit of the swift prey with the lean wolves of the Forest.  
  
But there was something that troubled him, 'So they all chose to become what they are?'  
  
Raq sighed, 'Most of them, yes. Like me they have either changed their appearance through magic, ritual or voluntarily taking the bite so they can switch.'  
  
'Most?'  
  
'Mm. Raven came here through chance. He was what we call a loner – that is a confused werewolf without friend or understanding of himself. Loners are dangerous creatures – you should know, you were one recently. They are the ones that kill mindlessly for they are afraid of what they are. Raven, unfortunately, had it worse than most. He was bitten during his teenage years and was shunned as a 'psycho' by his family and friends. So he ran away and ended up here.'  
  
'Muggle-born?'  
  
'No, Muggle.'  
  
'He's a Muggle?'  
  
'He was a Muggle, now he's Raven, a wolf. He has accepted our way of life, and besides, there's no way of him telling the world. Who would believe a talking wolf who spoke of magic? Or even someone who claimed he was a werewolf?'  
  
'I see your point.'  
  
'I'm glad you enjoyed it.'  
  
Moony belched and with it came the taste of fresh venison, 'I think I ate too much.'  
  
'Comes with the territory, I'm afraid. But you have a superb tail!'  
  
Raq had been right when she'd said that he'd have a full-length tail when morning came – it hadn't changed a hair from last night. He was having trouble controlling it, but he was sure he'd get used to it.  
  
Raq threw on her cloak and pulled it tight about her. 'Don't want anyone seeing and getting the wrong impression,' she winked roguishly at him. 'Oh, I see someone regained consciousness last night.'  
  
The place where they had left Severus was empty.  
  
'I thought that was a dream. I couldn't believe old Snowy did that!'  
  
'Nothing ruffles our great leader, not even arrogant Potions Masters. I doubt if you placed him in front of the Dark Lord himself he'd turn a hair. Oh, and I wouldn't let him catch you calling him Snowy, it might tweak his tail a bit!'  
  
Once up in Diana's chambers, she took out a bottle of yellow liquid and took a quick draught of it before offering over the bottle.  
  
'What is it?'  
  
'Just little liquid energy. Lucky I discovered this brew early on and even duffers like me at potions can make it. It really takes the edge off after an all night chase. This little brew has saved my tail on more than one occasion. Without it I'd have fallen off my broom I don't know how many times!'  
  
Remus took a tentative sip of the potion. It was sweet and warming, not wholly unlike butterbeer, but as it seeped through his veins it took with it all the ache and tiredness.  
  
'Better than wolfsbane, eh? Well, I've got to take a shower. I'll see you at breakfast?'  
  
Remus pulled a face, 'How can you even think about breakfast? I've still got half a deer swilling around inside me.'  
  
'I have to make an appearance at least, unlike you, you lucky sod.' Diana took another swig at the bottle before turning towards the shower.  
  
Moony grabbed her by the hem of her cloak and rolled her onto the bed, 'Oh no, you don't get away from this wolf that easily!'  
  
Both laughed as they rolled around and snapped at each other playfully. Whereas Remus had always been shy around women, the wolf in him seemed to know exactly what to do. He bent down and kissed her deeply.  
  
The door creaked and swung open and in walked Albus Dumbledore. He hid a smile at Diana's mortified face as she looked over Remus's shoulder.  
  
'Good Morning, Diana. I had wondered where Remus had got to, but I see you have been looking after him. Remus, if you could see me in my office when you are, er, ready?'  
  
Dumbledore shut the door quietly and left the lovers to their business.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It wasn't until mid-morning that Lupin made his way up the hidden stairwell to Professor Dumbledore's study. He knocked and entered, only to find Albus waiting for him with a very disgruntled looking Severus.  
  
'Good morning Albus, Severus.'  
  
'Good morning, Remus. Please sit down.' Remus sat, but he didn't need Dumbledore's explanation about the cause of this meeting. There was a small crust of blood at the side of Severus's head. 'I hear you were running about the school last night.'  
  
'I don't know what happened, not really anyway. I can't remember that much of last night.'  
  
'You didn't take your potion.' Albus's face was concerned, Severus's furious.  
  
Remus ran his thin fingers through his greying hair, 'I know. It doesn't work. It hasn't changed anything the last few times and it makes my changes far more painful.' Remus didn't like lying but the truth was a lot harder to explain.  
  
'Isn't the safety of the students worth a little pain?' Snape snarled at him.  
  
'Like I said, it doesn't work. When I'm wolf in the body I'm wolf in the head. The potion doesn't change that any more.'  
  
'Do you remember any other wolves?'  
  
'Other wolves?'  
  
'Severus had an encounter with a large group of wolves, humans and anthropomorphic wolves. One in particular attacked him.'  
  
'Why does this have anything to do with me?'  
  
'You were with them and the one that attacked Severus did so while he was trying to restrain you. Apparently he referred to you as his 'Brother'.'  
  
'I'm sorry but this means nothing to me. All I remember is the red moon rising. Everything after that is a blur until I was woken this morning in the Forest by Diana.'  
  
'Di found you?'  
  
'Yes. She was worried when I wasn't in my office and so came looking for me. She visits me early in the mornings after a full moon to make sure I'm all right.'  
  
'And she said nothing about other wolves?''  
  
'Nothing to me.'  
  
'Thank you, Remus. Is there anything else?'  
  
'No. Any reason?'  
  
'You look... different.'  
  
'I'm a happy man, Albus. It can change people in ways that they never knew. If there's nothing else, I think I need to lie down – I've got quite a serious bout of indigestion!'  
  
'Ate too much?' Albus raised a white eyebrow at him and Remus grinned at him before leaving.  
  
Dumbledore turned to Snape, 'Not exactly a mine of information. Then again I did not expect anything much. It must be a terrible curse for the man.'  
  
'Aren't you going to do anything?'  
  
'What do you want me to do, Severus?'  
  
'The one who attacked me was inside the school. Don't we have any way to stop them coming in? Or can't we get rid of them?'  
  
'We cannot drive creatures out of the Forest, Severus. If this wolf pack does indeed reside within then I cannot see any harm coming of it. And even though this wolf was inside the school it seems to me that he was only there to protect his brother wolf. Perhaps we could all take a lesson from him.'  
  
'What are you saying?'  
  
'Simply that too few in this world have interests beyond their own personal gain and safety. I'm sure this wolf took a great personal risk in coming in here for who knows who he might have met? As for your 'attack', I see little evidence of this wolf even touching you. It seems fear is his greatest weapon.'  
  
'Albus, you didn't see what those creatures did during Voldemort's last reign. They were his personal army, his bodyguards, and in return he let them wreak bloody murder over all they desired. I don't want him getting his hands on them again this close to all the youngsters who might one day rise against him. I've seen the aftermath of a Lupuscan attack before and I don't want to see it here.'  
  
He could see a picture of it in his mind – a bloodbath with severed limbs and torn flesh littered everywhere. Voldemort had shown it to all the Death Eaters as a warning of what would happen to them if they failed him.  
  
'I understand, Severus. Are you sure the creatures you met were Lupuscans?'  
  
'I'm certain of it.'  
  
'Then maybe we should ally them before Voldemort does.'  
  
'You have nothing to offer them, Albus. They are best wiped from the earth.'  
  
'Thank you, Severus.' 


	21. An Empty Shell

Since the Yule Ball Harry and Cho had become distant again. They were shy around each other and only really saw each other on the quidditch pitch. Plus Harry didn't have much time for relationships anyway. His OWLS were coming up and all the teachers were keeping their noses firmly to the grindstone. Well, almost all, Ron and Harry always managed to catch up on some much needed sleep during Divination. But Hermione made up for Professor Trelawney's lack of serious work by forcing them to revise until the early hours of the morning.  
  
Their brains felt thoroughly fried at the end of double Potions. Snape had been working them extra hard and his level of spite and vindictiveness had increased tenfold. If they'd known about the red moon incident they'd have understood why. He was annoyed at not having been taken seriously and was taking out his frustration on the students. His stress levels had reached an all time high with the sporadic Death Eater meetings taking a huge toll on his personal judgement and he found fault with every little thing. He wished he had someone to confide in, someone to understand what he was going through, but as usual Severus was alone.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their way to Transfiguration when they virtually ran into the Headmaster.  
  
'Hello, Professor Dumbledore.'  
  
'Ah, I was just looking for you three. I have some good news...'  
  
A shy figure emerged from behind Dumbledore's billowing robes.  
  
'Storm!'  
  
'Mr Malfoy was taken to court for the bleeding incident – and we won. He's been banned from keeping riths for ten years and she's been found a new home.'  
  
'Who with?'  
  
'Me.'  
  
'That's great, Professor. But we're going to be late for Transfiguration and Professor McGonagall will have our hides if we are.'  
  
'Of course, of course. Off you go.'  
  
They watched for a little while as Dumbledore led Storm slowly down the corridor. The rith stumbled and lurched crazily against the walls without any of her former grace. It was almost as if she couldn't see where she was going.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Lucius Malfoy had been surprised. Never in a million years did he think a court would convict him on such a trivial matter. But his surprise had turned to anger at what he had lost – one of the most valuable things he owned to that Muggle-loving fool Dumbledore. Luckily he'd bled the creature just before he'd taken her to court. He'd almost bled her dry just in case so at least he had a store.  
  
Those last few days had been a real eye-opener for the elder Malfoy. Since her assault on him the rith had conducted herself such a controlled manner that it would have put most of the Death Eaters in the shade. If his own son demonstrated half the self-discipline and restraint that the damned animal had shown then he would have been proud, but put under the slightest pressure the boy squirmed and whimpered like a child even though he was almost a man. He'd never had any patience with tears or snivelling and had tried his hardest to teach Draco to be strong, but with little avail.  
  
For a week he'd kept the wolf in the smallest and dankest cell without food, sporadically entering to torment her so she didn't even have the comfort of routine. An iron band had been fitted tightly around her muzzle to keep her from wielding her dangerous teeth.  
  
Every torture and punishment he could think of without marking her body was used but none seemed to have any effect. Not a scream of pain, not a grunt, not a flinch, nothing. There was just an emptiness in her eyes like she wasn't there any more. She'd switched off her mind to the pain and was left with an empty shell.  
  
She paid no attention to him no matter what he did, no matter how much he goaded her – her body was as limp as a ragdoll and as weak as a kitten and she was completely unresisting to any act her performed on her.  
  
This had irritated Lucius – it was no sport when the victim didn't object or react and perhaps that had been her greatest defence for Lucius had soon got bored with his toy and left her alone as she began to die. Dehydration hit her worse than anything else and so when he had bled her she had passed out. She still hadn't recovered properly by the day of the trial and was still in a morbid state when she returned to Hogwarts. The whole trial had passed her by without her even noticing, and the journey to Scotland was a blur – she couldn't even remember how they had got back. But the time in solitary confinement had not left her completely unaffected for when Dumbledore tried ensconcing her back into her old dungeon her bleary eyes grew wide with fear and she clung onto the distressed Headmaster whilst crying into his robes.  
  
The last time she had been left alone had been filled with hidden terrors deep within the recesses of her mind and more than anything else she didn't want to be on her own. But she felt comfortable in displaying her fear in front of the kindly wizard. Finally he had relented and taken the anguished wolf back up to his study with gentle words and much comforting.  
  
Dumbledore had never liked the Malfoy family, least of all Lucius, but to have inflicted so much suffering on a defenceless creature, and worse still his own dog, left a bitter taste in his mouth. Lucius had only got away from being sent to Azkaban as a Death Eater by convincing the Ministry that he had been under that Imperius curse, that and the fact that he was one of the most influential wizards in the country and the heir of the name and fortune of a pureblood line. But looking at Storm now his story became even less believable than it had been in the past. Thank Merlin that the NERO lot weren't as blind as the Ministry of Magic. However, it was a very bad look out for the world in general if that proved to be the case.  
  
He led the dejected creature up to his chambers, always ready to catch her should she fall. There seemed to be no strength left in her bony legs, or any other part of her body. Her tail and head hung limply and her eyes were blank and glazed. Wherever Storm was right now she wasn't in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only her body was.  
  
Once in the study she collapsed on the stone floor and immediately fell asleep. He ordered up some food and water from the house elves and almost instantaneously one appeared with a small pop and a tray full of delicious- looking food. A house elf with huge green eyes and a pencil shaped nose.  
  
'Here is the food you is ordering, sir.'  
  
'Dobby, I'm so glad it's you.'  
  
'Sir?'  
  
Dumbledore pointed to the heaving mass of blue, black and white upon a mattress conjured there by the thoughtful wizard. Dobby's jaw dropped and he looked at Dumbledore uncertainly.  
  
'It's all right, Dobby, you can say hello, but she's only just got back. She's come to live at Hogwarts.'  
  
The house elf cautiously approached the sleeping rith, 'Zafyre? Zafyre, it's me, Dobby.'  
  
At the sound of his voice the wolf awoke and looked round. As soon as she saw him her eyes lost some of their abandoned air and brightened with tears. Dobby threw his small body on the rith and they wept into each others arms like the survivors of a catastrophe who thought all others were lost.  
  
Dumbledore felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes at the obvious display of love between the two. Broken fragments of sentences could be heard between the elf's sobs, but it was the embrace that mattered the most.  
  
Storm fell asleep in Dobby's spindly arms and he gently laid her back down on the mattress before turning to his master, his voice still shaking, 'If Dobby can do anything for Professor Dumbledore he does not even have to ask. Zafyre was Dobby's only friend and now he has freed her too. But Dobby's old master has done terrible things to her, hasn't he?'  
  
He decided to be gently frank, 'Yes, although I don't know what. But given time I'm sure she'll be back to normal. You can come here and visit her any time you'd like.'  
  
Dobby bowed in gratitude, 'Thank you, Professor Dumbledore, but Dobby must be getting back to work now.'  
  
With a small pop the elf disappeared again and the Headmaster was left alone with the sleeping rith. He sat for a little while watching her rhythmic breathing and occasional twitches pondering on a question. Who did she remind him of? 


	22. The Storm Breaks

Winter grudgingly gave way to Spring, and this Spring made up for the hard winter. Unseasonable warmth rained down on the grounds of Hogwarts with cloudless azure skies and balmy breezes. Life reappeared with fresh green leaves on the trees and a burgeoning return of insects and birds. It was the kind of time when you could forget that anything was wrong with the world at all if you were that foolish.  
  
For those who could it was a time to enjoy the early heatwave, but for those who couldn't it was a curse. Harry and co dreaded every clear morning knowing that they would not get to enjoy it. Quidditch practice was about all the time they had to bask in the spring sunshine.  
  
Storm had hardly noticed it at all and Albus was worried. She wasn't eating, he had never seen her drink and she wasn't interested in her surroundings at all. She seemed to stare blankly at one spot all her waking hours and when she was asleep he watched concerned as she writhed and screamed at unknown terrors. She was definitely one disturbed wolf. But at least he knew where he had seen her before.  
  
The year after Voldemort's fall the Ministry was still rounding up his supporters and one case in particular came to mind. A fairly young man named Felix Maguire had been identified as one of the lead Death Eaters. Dumbledore had been present at the raid when Maguire had been captured. He'd sat calmly on a leather armchair in front of a fire as the company had burst in. But all six members had been halted in their tracks by a large Thor's rith that stood protectively in the doorway to its masters study.  
  
One wizard was about to kill the creature when Maguire had barely whispered a command and the rith had walked away and sat next to its master. He praised the rith highly as he stood up to face his captors, still as calm as a summer's day, and had said these words;  
  
'Spooky's papers are all in the blue file. Do what you want with me but she is just an animal and does not understand any of this. Make sure someone looks after her.'  
  
Many of the wizards present had been surprised by these words, but also highly suspicious, 'Why should we look after your rith when you have murdered countless families?'  
  
'Because you are good and fair men. You would not punish a creature for what wrongs her master has committed.'  
  
Maguire had been taken away, along with his rith. He had confessed all, being a proud man who would freely admit his wrongs and would not try to wheedle his way out of a just punishment. His only request was that his rith be looked after by someone who would understand her. This had raised much suspicion as to whether he had hidden secrets in the creature and for the first time ever a magical creature had been called as a witness. However, once it was established that the rith could not speak, she was removed from the court. There were some who wanted to make sure that no dark secrets were hidden in the creature's mind, which would have ended up killing her, and others involved in the raid who wanted her destroyed as a dangerous creature. However, it was Dumbledore himself who saved her life this time saying that she was only trying to protect her master and would have hoped she would have done the same for him if she belonged to him. Dumbledore never knew who the rith known as Spooky ended up with, but he did remember the final parting between rith and master.  
  
It had been granted as a reward for Maguire's honest confession and was one of the most heart-wrenching acts Dumbledore had ever witnessed. Spooky had been put in a cell normally reserved for prisoners as the place was not equipped with animal accommodation. Maguire was allowed into the cell while two guards and Dumbledore stood at the door to make sure that he didn't give her anything or tell her anything incriminating. The rith's eyes had brightened at the sight of her master and her tail set wagging, but it soon stopped when she noticed the look on his face. It was the usual thing a man might say when parting from his dog, telling her to be good for her new masters, to behave herself and make sure she didn't forget him. Both man and wolf were crying by the end, they were the only family each other had, but Maguire gave her one last pat before turning to leave. The rith had caught him by the hem of his shirt and turned him around. She then took off her worn collar and tore out a patch of blue-black fur and wrapped it in the leather band. She'd given it to her master before she broke completely. Dumbledore had led Felix away, his shoulders shaking with grief as he held the old collar and the fur, and heard the heart-rending howls of a wolf who had lost all she loved.  
  
Dumbledore felt like he had broken his promise to Maguire to make sure that his Spooky was well looked after, but he hoped to make amends. As far as he knew the rith's master was still alive and serving his life sentence in Azkaban.  
  
A change in the wind drew his attention, and that of the rith formerly known as Spooky and Zafyre, now known as Storm, and he set off down to see Hagrid not seeing the small snout and twitching whiskers peeking out from a tiny hole right where the rith had been staring.  
  
* * * * *  
  
She could feel it before it had even begun. When it was still stirring up to the south she felt it stirring in her blood. As it grew stronger so did she. Her whole body was attuned to its patterns and its power. Ever since her ancestor – Bluescar Thunderbolt – had been struck by lightning her breed had been connected by the most natural magic of all. Even her admired colouration was due to that first legendary striking.  
  
Now the storm was approaching fast – it was a few hours away at most and its namesake could already feel the electricity crackling through her veins. She looked out of the window and waited for the tempest to come to her.  
  
She'd hated stormy days when she was under the thumb of the Malfoys. For thirteen years she hadn't been allowed out to feel the fire and the passion of the storm. Locked away in a windowless cell with no outlet for the frustration it made her feel. Her first master, the one she had truly called Master, had understood and had loved watching her revel in the power of the elements. But at the Malfoys her cell had become a torture chamber, all four stone walls and particularly the solid wooden door had been deeply scarred by blunt claws desperately trying to dig through thick stone in a vain attempt to vent some of the rage she felt. They'd thought her too dangerous at this time to be allowed near the house, and they were right. She was like a loner werewolf on the full moon. By the time the storm had blown itself out the rith had spent all her frenzied energy, usually collapsed on the floor, and was left with nothing but a hollowness in her heart. It had been a way that Lucius had tried to gain total control over her, but it had backfired. If he'd have let her go she'd have respected him far more.  
  
She needed to be outside, to watch the steely clouds roll in on brisk winds as if born on the wings of dragons. It was near now, so near, and she could feel its every movement, its power rising so she shook with mounting anticipation. She wanted to run, to bound, to call out her wild challenge proudly to the sky.  
  
She was a werewolf after all and knew all about the force that was housed in her body, dying to be released.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Care of Magical Creatures for the fifth years was being held out on one of the open meadows. Most of the class looked worriedly up at the rapidly darkening sky that threatened rain.  
  
Ahead of them was not the massive Hagrid, but someone much smaller in stature with short grey hair.  
  
'Madam Hooch, what are you doing here?' Harry asked.  
  
'Hagrid asked me to wait here for you lot while he collects the subject of today's lesson, so if you hang on he'll be here in a minute.' Diana Hooch's golden eyes seemed to catch every sulphurous streak in the clouds.  
  
It was Lavender Brown who piped up first, 'But it's going to rain, we'll get all wet.'  
  
The look in Madam Hooch's eyes was utter contempt, 'It's not going to rain, Miss Brown, it's going to absolutely hammer it down and that's the reason why we're here. There's going to be a fair bit of thunder and lightning too, but it's going to be a good show, so don't get all pathetic on me. Ah, here we go. Umbella!'  
  
A rainproof shield immediately appeared overhead as the first golf ball sized drops of rain began to fall. In the distance came a low rumble of thunder. A strangled bark behind them made them turn around to see Hagrid valiantly trying to hold on to Storm.  
  
When he'd arrived in Dumbledore's office he'd found Storm almost wild with delight and had had to grab her by the scruff of the neck to stop her from charging past him. It was the first time that she'd ever snapped at him from anything other than fear, but luckily he was skilled in such situations. Slipping a both a lead and a halter over her head, he'd managed to gain control relatively easily once she realised he was taking her outside, but once there it was a different matter. That first low roll of thunder had sent a thrill down Storm's spine and she had tried to break free from her bonds, causing them to cut into her face. It was this that had caught everyone's attention.  
  
When watching the spectacle Harry doubted very much if anyone weaker than Hagrid would have been able to hold Storm, thin as she was. For the first time ever Harry could see the werewolf in the rith. Her eyes were wild and dangerous and spittle was dripping from her dangerous jaws as she slavered in anticipation of the oncoming thunderstorm. Every hair on her body stood straight up, creating blue and black spikes especially along her spine with her ear tufts blowing in the wind. She looked a world apart from the docile Storm they all knew, she was a strange feral beast of the tempest. When close enough they could see the blue-white lightning flickering across her savage eyes and no one wanted to get too close. Hagrid held gallantly onto the halters as he addressed the class.  
  
'Afternoon. As most of yeh know, this is Storm...'  
  
'That's my mother's rith.'  
  
'I think not, Malfoy. This is Dumbledore's rith. Ask yer parents why she ain't got scars no more.' Malfoy flushed at the memory of the blood on his hands. 'As I was sayin', this is Storm and now I'll tell yer why she was called that. Does anyone know what type of rith Storm is? Ron?'  
  
'She's a Thor.'  
  
'Aye. The rarest type of rith there is. There's two other main types, anyone? Hermione?'  
  
'The Brimstone and the Common or Can-Rith.'  
  
'Spot on. Now why are Thor's riths called that? No one? Okay I'll tell yer. Thor was a god of thunder and lightnin', these riths have got such an affinity for it that they were said to run alongside Thor's chariot and it was Thor himself who made these riths as companions to himself.'  
  
An odd sound which could have been a muffled howl escaped Storm's muzzled jaws. Hagrid stroked her head but his hand was shaken off as the rith made a break for it. He checked her sharply.  
  
'Madam Hooch, why don't you tell 'em how you can tell a werewolf from a rith as I've got my hands rather full here.' Storm was now bucking and leaping like a wild mustang and it was taking all of Hagrid's strength to hold her.  
  
Diana warmed to the subject immediately, 'First of all you have colour. Storm here is no true werewolf as you can plainly see. True werewolves have the same colour patterns as true wolves and rith breeders have not been able the replicate this after out-breeding it. But the most obvious difference is their feet. Riths stand on two, wolves and werewolves stand on four. This...'  
  
A shaft of lightning tore the sky in half and created such a roar of thunder that it shook the ground. With a gargantuan effort Storm broke both halters and bounded off into the path of the tempest, all the time howling out her fierce song to the boiling skies. She stood stock still once a fair distance away, her legs apart and her sapphire eyes aglow with ferocious light that defied anyone or anything to challenge her. The storm accepted the challenge.  
  
Rith and thunderstorm rivalled each other in loudness and wildness of their calls. Forked lightning ripped the sky around her and all the class stood stock still, unable to tear their eyes away from the savage spectacle. One bolt, closer than the rest, actually came down with full force in the grounds of Hogwarts itself, right in front of them. Everyone shut their eyes at the sheer brightness of it and more than a few screamed.  
  
'It's Storm she's been hit!' Harry called, but Hagrid put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
'It's all righ', Harry. Look!'  
  
If Storm had been beautiful before then she was something else now. The marbled pattern of blue and black now rippled and swirled as if were liquid, shining like quicksilver, and her eyes glowed like blue flames.  
  
'Tha's why yeh have t' have Thor's riths struck by lightnin'. Don't she look beautiful!'  
  
There was no doubt about it, no one could believe the magical change in Storm. They stayed out for a while as the tempest moved away and Storm frolicked in the long grass, thanking her Nordic benefactor with a song more pleasant than the violent challenge of before. The uplifting hymn rose proudly to the sky and there was peace in a broken heart.  
  
Dark clouds parted and brilliant blue skies returned, casting new sunlight on a solitary singer whose rain-sleeked fur shone like pure silver. 


	23. Versipellis

It happened in slow motion, like it did every time.  
  
A blinding flash encompassing every colour she had ever known heading straight for her, millions of minute charges in one glorious action. She tipped her head back to feel its full force coursing through her body that acted like a lupine lightning conductor. It was a moment that lasted for hours and she basked in its raw energy – its unrefined power surging through her until her heart pounded fit to burst. It was in these split seconds that she teetered on the brink between life and death, to stray but an inch would mean certain fatality. But a Thor's rith was nothing if not the master of its element and she held onto her life with the will of one who knows only too well how precious the gift is.  
  
In return for her determination to survive the storm gave its namesake part of its strength before it dissipated into the earth through her leathery padded feet, if only for a time.  
  
After the lightning had gone Storm felt it still crackling through her blood. It seared some of the ache from around her heart and there was a new light in her eyes knowing that she would learn to live again. She had never felt more like singing in all her life, and so she did in the only way she knew how.  
  
As she howled softly to the brightening skies, the Raq in Diana could not help but want to howl with her, but she did not. She looked to the Forest and saw on its edge a great white king watching her, and Storm, with his sharp golden eyes before he melted back into the trees to see how his pack had fared through the tempest.  
  
Since the striking Storm had been making herself a nuisance to Dumbledore, she now had endless energy and when extra pent up or excited she let off small blue sparks of trapped electricity. More than once he'd had to dodge a particularly large one. Fawkes the phoenix was also looking rather ruffled at his roommate's idiotic behaviour, especially when she was playing with her adopted family.  
  
But it had been rather entertaining to tell Severus not to collect some of his potion ingredients from his office.  
  
The tall, saturnine teacher was looking rather more drawn than usual, and only Dumbledore knew why. Voldemort was gaining strength, but keeping his actions secret until he chose to make a spectacular re-entry into the world – and that was going to be bloody. It was hard on Snape to keep all the dark happenings that went on in those meetings to himself. And it was his own thoughts that frightened him far more. Dumbledore was trying his level best to keep his spirits up, but the Headmaster already had so much on his plate that it wasn't fair to burden him with his own problems.  
  
'Ah, Severus, come in. Sit down. Tea?'  
  
'No thank you, Albus. I am rather busy at the moment...'  
  
'I know, Severus, it's just a little matter. A favour really.'  
  
Snape rolled his eyes, how could Albus put more on his plate knowing what he was going through already. A slight humming behind him made him turn around. The rith was laying flat on her back, her head rolled right back and her hind legs crossed over each other. Her finely white-furred throat vibrated with the hums and her white-tipped tail swished aggravatingly across the floor. Her eyes seemed fixed on a small hole in the base of a bookcase. As he watched a set of whiskers the thickness of spider silk twitched from the opening and cautiously emerged. Bright black eyes twinkled intelligently from a mainly white head. Its tiny, lithe body was covered in tortoiseshell coloured splashes. The little rodent climbed on Storm's muzzle until it sat on her quivering voice-box. Standing on its hind legs it surveyed as much as its limited field of vision would allow before letting out a low squeak. Eight noses immediately crowded the opening and not even half-sized versions of their mother tumbled out and began climbing all over the rith to her obvious delight.  
  
Snape turned back in disgust, 'You have a rodent problem, Albus. Perhaps I should call Filch?'  
  
Dumbledore looked indulgently at the rith and her tiny companions, 'Don't worry, Severus. I just wanted to ask you not to collect any of your more anatomical potion ingredients from this office. Storm has become rather attached to these little creatures.'  
  
'So you're going to let your office get overrun with mice because your rith has befriended them.'  
  
'I thought you might understand, Severus.' Snape looked at him quizzically, 'Neither you nor this rith have had a fair trial in life, and few allies to trust in. So if she has found a little happiness by befriending a family of mice then what harm can come of it?'  
  
One of the young mice clambered up Dumbledore's robes and started tugging at the biscuit in his hand. Its outraged squeaks when it could not remove it attracted Storm's immediate attention and she watched the proceedings with the watchful eye of a surrogate mother. Dumbledore placed both biscuit and infant mouse on the floor and watched the large marble sized creature valiantly tug the biscuit across the floor when all of his brothers and sisters could have sat easily on it.  
  
'In fact, one of these little chaps has become something of a chum of mine. You see the mother? She was one of Minerva's escapees from a few months ago. She decided to set up home in that little crevice and regularly comes out to watch me at work. It's been a positive delight watching her raise a family.'  
  
'Is that all, Albus?'  
  
'Unless you have something to discuss with me, Severus?'  
  
'Not at the moment.'  
  
'Don't hesitate to come to me if you do need anything. I am always here.'  
  
Snape nodded his approval and left without a word, scattering baby mice in his wake. Only the pied mother seemed undisturbed from her perch on the top of Storm's head.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Remus didn't mind having Storm in his classes. It gave Dumbledore a break and was a change of scenery for the rith. He also quite liked having the companionship of a fellow wolf when he taught, and she was less disruptive than most of his students. She generally found the warmest spot in the classroom and settled down, but occasionally he was sure she was listening in to what he was saying.  
  
It wasn't until one morning with fifth years that everything changed.  
  
All the students were really fatigued, Lupin could see it in their eyes. All the pressure of the OWL's was getting them down and, besides, this lesson never went well being just after Binn's History of Magic bore-fest. The day was hot and he always found the best way of teaching was filling in the gaps of what they already knew. He sat on the front of his desk and scanned the tired faces in front of him.  
  
'Right, people, today we're going to take a bit of a break,' a ragged cheer went up from several faces who were already flat on the desks in front of them, 'All I want you to do is ask me about anything you don't understand and I'll try to explain as best I can.'  
  
The lesson played along quietly, most appreciating the rest and filling in the gaps in their knowledge. However, it wasn't until nearly the end of the lesson that it all kicked off. 'Boot?'  
  
'Professor, what's the Versipellis curse?'  
  
Versipellis? That's a pretty rare one. It's as close to an Unforgivable as you can get without actually assuming that name. It's not generally used due to the unpredictable nature of the curse, and its reversibility. Versipellis means to change shape, but by the very quality of the curse you don't know what you have just hexed will change into. Say you use it on a stool, it could become a bookcase, a train or even a dragon. Same thing when used on people so that's why it's so dangerous. But Versipellis victims usually resume their normal shape within a few hours, maximum a few days. It takes a skilled witch or wizard to perform the curse so don't go trying it out as it can easily backfire.'  
  
No one noticed the change in Storm during this speech, the covering of her eyes, the swallowing of the bile that rose up in her throat and the increasing panic that made her flee the classroom. Dashing out like a furry whirlwind, she skidded on the worn stones and crashed into walls in her mad flight. Not even looking where she was going, she tumbled down a flight of stairs and ran on trying to outrun the images that crept up on her like thieves in the night.  
  
That one word had unblocked the dam of hidden memories. Lightning had weakened the charms by the word had broken them. She felt like she'd been watching through frosted glass for years, but now it was gone and she was faced with the truth for the first time in over fifteen years.  
  
She stumbled and tripped, grazing her knees and leathery pads on her hands and for the first time she felt like they didn't belong to her. She sobbed and pounded the solid stone at the bitter memories of what truly happened that fateful night before retching from all the unshed tears fighting to be released at once.  
  
Versipellis. Why of all the curses did they have to use that one? Why couldn't they have let her be and left her to live in blissful ignorance or die with her family?  
  
Snape heard the commotion from his office. Peering outside he witnessed the cobalt-blue rith crawling brokenly along the corridor, shouting incomprehensibly at the bare stone and attacking it with claws and teeth. His immediate reaction was that Storm had lost her mind and when she turned to face him it just deepened his suspicions.  
  
Her eyes narrowed evilly and a growl rose from deep in her throat whereas before she'd been indifferent to his presence. As quick as thought he drew his wand and stunned the rith with a curse before locking her in her old dungeon and fetching Albus.  
  
'It's turned, Albus. It would have attacked me if I hadn't stopped it in time and I don't want any of the students injured.'  
  
Dumbledore looked through the grate in the door and saw Storm trying to look at something on her back.  
  
If it was still there then it would prove everything, prove that the memories were real. That was when she saw it. A black marking in the shape of a hawk's foot just above the root of her tail and slightly to the left. She nodded as if gesturing to herself that she was ready to take on whatever challenges this new revelation presented.  
  
When Dumbledore looked at her he saw not a mad wolf but rather one with a steely look of determination in her eyes but decided to say nothing more on the matter and left her to compose herself, and put Severus's worries to rest. 


	24. Don't be afraid of your destiny

A damp chill still clung to the early air as dawns first grey light hesitantly penetrated the silent earth. One alone sat in this peaceful world, and now it was time to put her heart to rest.  
  
She'd been up half the night collecting twigs and wildflowers and weaving them carefully around each other. Wood anemones, bluebells, wild pansies, primroses, cowslips, cuckoo flowers and sweet violets all bound to the wooden frame with the vine-like stems of lesser periwinkle. She'd whispered a name with each flower placed before adding the final touch, the barred tailfeather of an adult peregrin standing proudly like a sail in the centre of the floral craft. She shed a single tear on her work before pushing it out onto the lake where it sailed onwards, propelled by the slightest breeze.  
  
'Goodbye.'  
  
She watched the raft for a while until it had drifted out of sight on the rose-hued water before giving vent to a shuddering sigh of grief.  
  
'Goodbye.'  
  
Harry hadn't been able to sleep. It happened sometimes when he had a lot on his mind and he found the confinement of the dormitory and common room oppressive, so he went outside where no one watched him and there was peace for once in his chaotic life. The first birds began to awaken and sing out their first chorus, along with something that was definitely not avian.  
  
Harry stared at Storm sitting at the edge of the lake, hugging her knees and humming softly as she stared across the still water. He still couldn't believe that she'd tried to swim it back in October. She must've known she wouldn't make it, but perhaps that had been the point. Maybe she'd got out as far as she could and then, when she knew she wouldn't be able to go further, she had just let go.  
  
As he listened harder Harry thought for the first time he could hear words in Storm's singing;  
  
'And if life is a rough bed of brambles and nails And your spirit's a slave to man's whips and man's jails Where you thirst and you hunger for justice and right And your heart is a pure flame of man's constant night.  
  
In your eyes faint as the singing of a lark...'  
  
He watched her for a little while longer. There was something different about her, something stronger despite her tears, something that seemed more real. She seemed to sense his presence and turned to look at him, a watery smile on her face and gestured him to come over and sit with her.  
  
He plonked himself down on the grassy sward, but neither said a word. Storm's eyes twinkled like someone who knew a secret and desperately wanted to let on but didn't dare. Harry thought he knew what it was.  
  
'I know you can speak. Dobby told me, and you've spoken to me before. Remember?'  
  
Storm's grin grew wider and Harry heard her speak properly for the first time, although her voice was husky from lack of use, 'Aye, I remember. Wish I didn't, but you do look like your dad.'  
  
'You knew my dad?'  
  
'In a manner of speaking. I knew of him, he was one of Enyana's friends, Sirius's best mate. I liked your dad, and your mum. She'd have been proud of you.'  
  
Harry digested this. It was odd these words coming from Storm, not least because she was a wolf and wolves weren't supposed to talk, especially so expressively. But Harry chided himself that nothing should be unusual to him any more after all he'd seen in his years at Hogwarts.  
  
'What are you doing here?'  
  
'What am I doing here in general or what am I doing here in this spot this morning setting a raft of wildflowers out on the lake and grizzling?'  
  
'This morning.'  
  
Storm set here frighteningly bright blue eyes back to the horizon to the last place that she had seen her offering, 'My whole family died in one night. I was there and I saw everything. To this day it still haunts me. For the past fifteen years I have been cast adrift in a sea of confusion and only now can I see things by the clear light of the dawn. I was saying my goodbyes. I never got to go to their funerals. But on this morning I am here for it is a special day to say farewell.'  
  
'It was the day they died.'  
  
'No, Harry, no today is not the anniversary of their passing. One of those who died that day was not a member of my family, in fact many weren't, but to Enyana he was as close as. His name was Falco Shealey and he was Enyana's dearest friend. They grew up together, shared everything, were closer than brother and sister, and today would have been his thirty- third birthday. There's a falcon feather on that raft and that's for him, for all he did for Enyana, for all that his friendship meant to her.'  
  
'That's really nice. But what about Enyana?'  
  
'There's an early wild rose there for her.'  
  
'What was she like, Enyana?'  
  
'Proud, modest perhaps, even though everyone told her she was beautiful she never thought she was anything special. Until she fell in love.'  
  
'With Falco?'  
  
'Oh god no!' Storm laughed, 'Falco was gay! He came out of the closet to Enyana when they were about fifteen. No, with the one whose name was the last word she spoke – Sirius. Those two made each other laugh, they were each other's joy.'  
  
'Sirius is my godfather.'  
  
'I know. Do you think he was guilty?'  
  
'Of course not!' Harry exclaimed, angry, 'My father's best friend wouldn't have killed him, it was that rat Wormtail...' Harry didn't know why he had blurted all that out to Storm, but she surveyed him with a slight nod of her head.  
  
'I know Sirius didn't do it, Harry, I never said he did. I just wondered if you knew that. You don't have to worry about what you say to me. I assure you it will go no further, as long as the assurance is returned.'  
  
'Of course.'  
  
They sat in silence for a few moments longer before Harry came up straight with an accusation he'd wanted to make, 'I know it was you who put that rabbit through my letterbox.'  
  
Storm looked at her black hind paws before turning to him with a sheepish grin, 'You worked it out then. I don't know what possessed me to do it, really. I had a bit of a wolf head on at that time and I wasn't thinking straight. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Sorry if it caused any trouble.'  
  
'No, it's all right. Hedwig enjoyed it. I've still got the wolf.'  
  
'That's nice, it took me ages huddled under bushes trying to find bits of tinfoil and sculpt them before I got caught.'  
  
'And the dragon.'  
  
'Peace, Hope and Freedom – the three things I wished for more than anything in the world. I'm glad you liked them, I wanted to thank you for all you did for me. I enjoyed my time here.'  
  
'And after?'  
  
Storm shuddered, 'I'd rather not speak of it if you don't mind. I survived and I don't have to bow to him any more. You're a smart bloke, Harry, I just hope it saves you.'  
  
'I'm sorry?'  
  
'Something big's boiling up, I can feel it, and you're right in the middle of it. I don't blame you if you run, just promise me you'll run the right way.'  
  
'Sure. What about you?'  
  
'Me?' A hard, coldness came to her eyes and they set like steel, 'I've had enough of running. Whatever comes I'm going to meet it head on and god help the fools that get in my way.'  
  
'But what can you do?'  
  
'I have ways and means, better connections than old snake-face who stole my blood and murdered my family. He'll pay for that one, and Lucius is mine – I'll take anyone who gets him before me.'  
  
Harry didn't doubt one word of what the rith said as he dug a stone out of the bank and skimmed it across the still surface.  
  
'You don't call him master.'  
  
'Would you? You didn't see half the scars he gave me, the times he humiliated me, the times he locked me away during storms and the countless other things he did to me. He was a tyrant, but a tyrant under the heel of another and that's why I laughed at him, being the lowest of the low you see things that others can't because they're so obsessed with their own power. If I found out you were being treated like that, locked away, starved, punished for acts you didn't commit, I wouldn't be held responsible for my actions.'  
  
Harry said nothing on that particular matter, but something else bothered him, 'Because I'm Lily and James's son?'  
  
'A bit, perhaps, but mainly because I know what it likes to be in that position and its not one that I would wish upon any other. That's why I will fight to my dying breath the Snake Lord. All he stands for is slavery and death and that is no life for anyone. Don't be afraid of your destiny, Harry, it'll see you right. There's one hell of a destiny attached to you, and your friends. Stick together, no matter what, and you'll be all right.'  
  
'I'd better get back to the castle before anyone misses me.'  
  
'Likewise, I'll walk back with you.'  
  
They talked as they walked, Harry quite taken about by Storm's determination and eloquence, he wouldn't have dreamed of having this conversation a few months ago as Storm's howls echoed through the Potions classroom. He walked her down to the dungeons, but before she entered she turned to him.  
  
'Harry, I have three things to say to you. One: Do not be ashamed of the help given to you because of who you are. Be proud that your parents earned so much love and respect that people want to repay them by helping you. Two: If you are ever lost or need an impartial ear to talk to and I am not available then speak to Saiph. Ask any creature in the Dark Forest to take you to him and you will find him. Tell anyone you come up against that Elhaz sent you. And finally Three: There's a storm on its way. I don't know what I'm going to do, just make sure that Snape stays out of my way.'  
  
'You really don't like him, do you?'  
  
'I have my reasons, and not just because he put the Cruciatus on me. It wasn't the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last.'  
  
'See you later, Storm.'  
  
'Oh, Harry, one more thing.'  
  
'What?'  
  
'Can you lock the door. I'm not supposed to be able to get out.'  
  
'Then how did you?'  
  
'I picked the lock. Any more questions?'  
  
Harry smiled at Storm, 'I don't think so. See you later.'  
  
'See ya, mate.' 


	25. When Werewolves Get Drunk

In the depths of the Dark Forest there were whisperings, plotting and secrets.  
  
'But, Saiph, it's his first year. Who knows how many have gone uncelebrated before?'  
  
'No, Kelyn, it's far too risky, you know that. If it hadn't been I'd have taken us all back in long ago. I don't want any harm to come to you, my dear, you're far too precious to us for us to lose you.  
  
The pale wolf looked beseechingly up at her leader before one of the half wolves stepped forward. 'If she is set on going then I will accompany her for protection.'  
  
'And so will I.'  
  
Kelyn beamed gratefully at her two pack brothers before turning back to her white leader. 'Please, Saiph, Ice and Shadow will be with me. I won't get into trouble, I promise.'  
  
Saiph smiled at his youngest adopted daughter, 'There's really no point me arguing, is there?'  
  
'Not really.'  
  
'Then enjoy yourselves, and please be careful. And while you're there take this for him.'  
  
Kelyn leapt on the huge white wolf an almost knocked him over, 'You crafty old wolf, you knew we were going all along!'  
  
'What can I say, it's my job!'  
  
* * * * *  
  
In her dungeon Storm was watching the tempest roll in from the southeast. The rolling, boiling clouds blotting out the stars and blotting out her rational thoughts. Tonight her mind was filled with rage and thoughts of retribution. There was something to be done before she enjoyed the pleasures of nature.  
  
Her breathing was fast and shallow and lightning flickered across her bright blue eyes as she worked herself up into a frenzy. She allowed it to remove any traces of doubt or uncertainty and she knew precisely what she had to do. And likely as not there'd be blood on her maw before the night was out.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The day started normally enough for Lupin. Few remembered his birthday and, as he didn't shout it about, he was grateful for the greetings he did receive. But when he found Diana in his chambers that evening with a blindfold in her hand and her tail in full view claiming that she had a 'surprise' for him he couldn't help being a bit excited.  
  
She led him through benighted corridors and hallways, though all was black to him, until he completely lost his bearings. He felt decidedly odd as he walked along one part, almost as if a thousand eyes were watching him and judging him, but it soon passed. Obviously Di felt it too as she stopped for a brief moment before leading him on a few more paces. She put her hand up to the blindfold and whispered in his ear, 'Happy Birthday, Moony, and welcome to the Hall of Dreams.'  
  
It didn't take Remus's eyes long to adjust to the dim light of the room. The few candles that were lit gave off a light as faint as the moon and stars, but still enough to see by.  
  
The room itself was cosy and comfortable. Overstuffed sofas and armchairs now saggy and worn from long years of use, shelves lined with books on lycanthropy and animal spirituality, stuffed heads of proud kills decorating the walls, along with a multitude of paintings and keepsakes cluttering every available space. There was more than a few years of history in this place, but it was the inhabitants that surprised him the most.  
  
Seated in their favourite places were six smiling faces and he didn't know which he was most amazed to see, or perhaps it was the combination of them all together that seemed most unusual.  
  
Raq introduced them, 'Kelyn I believe you know, our jaundiced friend over there is Ice, Mr tall and skinny is Shadow, long-haired hippy prat with the guitar is Moss, spiky fiend is Bracken and posh git is Lateo.'  
  
'And we love you too, Raq,' Moss said dryly, raising a glass of suspicious looking clear liquid, 'Happy Birthday, Moony, and welcome to the merry band of Lupuscans.'  
  
'Lupuscans? You, and Lucy, and Justin?'  
  
'Moss, Bracken and Lateo here, Moon-boy. You're one of us now, Lupus says so.'  
  
'Who?'  
  
'Lupus. Our founder and mentor. If you haven't met her already no doubt you will soon, but not tonight. She's had less toleration for noise since she died, and we plan on making this a night to remember. Don't worry, we won't be heard, the Hall of Dreams is quite secure. Drink?'  
  
For the first time Remus noticed the array of instruments among the gathering – Moss had a guitar, Bracken a violin and Ice a wide, shallow drum and beater. Moss tuned his guitar and looked over at the pale wolf.  
  
'Kel, do you want to start us off? Any requests from the birthday boy?'  
  
It seemed odd to Moony to hear one of his students address him so informally, but it seemed so right and so easy that he just shook his head and took a long draught of what tasted like gin as Moss, formerly known as Jason, strummed out some chords and settled into a steady rhythm with Ice keeping the pace on his drum.  
  
Kelyn's voice was as clear as a morning lark's and as smooth as glass, but it seemed to fit the face that it was coming out of perfectly. Her posture and movements were unashamedly sexy and provocative, but absolutely natural and graceful. She felt every word that she sang and it made the performance more real.  
  
Bracken and Shadow added perfect harmonisation during the chorus, but they did not attempt to overpower her for they know they had no chance. Others rapped the arm of the chairs or their thighs as they listened to the smooth tones of 'Black Velvet'.  
  
The night progressed with lots of talking and even more singing. All took their turn and the mood ranged from love songs, to comic songs and plenty of Irish drinking songs as they swigged Raven's Dark Forest Gin. Moony couldn't believe he'd missed all this fun over the years, and as he looked at the smiling faces around him he saw the truth of the Lupuscan way, especially when Bracken and Raq were doing an absurd dance to the accompaniment of Moss, Ice and Shadow, their tails swinging around, although Bracken's was false. He felt as though he had a family again.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Harry couldn't sleep. He wanted to know if Storm was all right and if she'd found a way outside. He put on his invisibility cloak and went out of Gryffindor tower. He was lost in his own thoughts when a noise caught his attention. It sounded like outraged screaming. Harry turned towards the noise and hurried even more quickly when he realised that they were coming from Snape's private chambers. He hoped that Storm hadn't been so stupid, but his fears were realised when he got there. Snape's chambers looked like a tornado had hit them, and in a way it had. Drawers were turned out, everything was scattered all over the floor and nothing seemed to have been left untouched.  
  
Snape had been out at a meeting and wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed, but he'd heard Storm before he saw her. He flung open his door to reveal the rith ransacking his living chambers with untold fury. She had her back to him and didn't even notice his entrance as she tore the room apart with her bare, blunt claws. Thinking that a student had shut her in as a practical joke, Snape had called out to her to tell her to get out, but her expression frightened him. Her whole body had stiffened at his voice and she'd turned slowly and deliberately with her lips drawn right off her sparkling teeth and pure menace in her storm-hued eyes. Binding her quickly before she could pounce, Snape found that he had nothing but contempt for the creature, and his sarcastic words were easily overheard by Harry as he watched Storm struggling wildly against the bonds that snaked around her entire body.  
  
'Oh dear, it seems that we've overstretched ourself, haven't we?'  
  
The rith just stared at him with a look of frenzy and madness that Harry had never seen before in her usually calm eyes. Even at the last storm she hadn't been this bad. Harry wondered why she hated Snape so much – sure he was mean, but he didn't deserve this relentless persecution. She was foaming at the mouth and snarling like a rabid dog, but then again Snape himself didn't look much better.  
  
'I'll see you finished for this, wolf. You've made a big mistake in crossing me. Now, let me see...'  
  
With a look of malicious pleasure, Snape began examining the odious contents of his private collection of potion ingredients. He picked out certain ones and explained their properties to Storm, who looked slightly bored. Her blind rage had distilled into something infinitely more frightening, like a volcano waiting silently to erupt, yet Snape appeared to take this lull as terror and not the brooding violence it truly was.  
  
With painful slowness Snape blended and mixed the ingredients while the rith watched with deadly calm eyes.  
  
A loud roar of thunder woke Harry out of his trance and it was only now that he realised how much danger Snape had put himself in. He had a ticking time-bomb in front of him, and he was winding her up with every second that passed, and every second the storm grew closer and all the rith wanted to do now was to get out there before it passed. Harry was torn between helping Snape, for which he would receive no thanks and probably a detention, or watching his least favourite teacher get his come-uppance for once.  
  
Snape made his own decision.  
  
He advanced on the bound rith with obvious intimidation and sadistic pleasure in his dark eyes and a smoking potion in his hands. He placed the foul-smelling concoction on his private desk and picked up a slim knife with a needle sharp point, 'But first...' he mused.  
  
Harry watch in unconcealed horror as Snape ran the blade sickeningly slowly over Storm's face, down her throat, through the thick fur and onto her upper arm. He clipped the hair away gently before plunging the steel through her flesh.  
  
The rith barely winced, which is more than could be said for Harry, but he noticed a definite catch in her breath interrupting the constant low snarl. Snape removed the knife and immediately blood began to bead on the surface of her skin, but it wasn't the normal deep red colour, the storms influence had turned it silver making it the even rarer commodity of storm- blood or liquid lightning. With fiendish delight he placed a phial beneath the stream to collect the prized fluid.  
  
After a little while the stream steadied and stopped, Snape's phial almost full of Storm's valuable blood. He held it up to the candlelight and examined it carefully before placing it in a small locked cupboard where he kept only his most costly ingredients that were not for student use. Rith blood was obviously far more worthwhile outside the rith than in it to Snape.  
  
Storm's eyes had never left Snape's once, and now they held a curious triumph that puzzled the Potions Master. He turned his attention back to the brew, which had turned a poisonous shade of yellow and was still belching thick green smoke at regular intervals. He waved the putrid concoction under the rith's sensitive nose.  
  
Her whole snout wrinkled in disgust as the foul odour pervaded every scent receptor. She sneezed to expel the stench from her delicate nostrils – and managed to spill half the potion on the floor with the force of it.  
  
Snape cut Storm's muzzle bonds before she managed to find a way to spill the rest. He foolishly believed that she was too frightened to resist in any way. Unfortunately for someone, Harry couldn't quite work out who, he was wrong.  
  
Storm lunged like a striking cobra and clamped her jaws on his wrist with a sickening crunch. Snape grunted and his face contorted with pain as his blood began to dribble down her chin. She shook his hand like a hideous white rat, preventing Snape from going for his wand and Harry knew in a spilt-second what he had to do.  
  
Throwing off his cloak, he opened a window on the other side of the corridor and ran into the living quarters, wand drawn. He yelled at the rith, 'Storm! Storm! ELHAZ!'  
  
That last shout did it. Some of the madness in the rith's eyes faded at the sound of her old name, and Harry's voice. Harry pushed the door wide and stood well out of the way, leaving Storm's path clear as he cast a spell to remove her bonds. With a slightly regretful look at Snape, but a more powerful longing for the tempest, the cobalt rith let go of Snape and ran, leaping out of the window and sliding down roof and off rain-slicked projectory with the grace of a cat before racing like the wind across the grounds.  
  
Snape sat on a chair looking rather pale and clutching his bleeding limb. Harry tore a piece off his pyjama shirt and wrapped it tightly around the bloody gash, staunching the flow.  
  
'You ought to see Madam Pomfrey, I think she's cracked a bone.'  
  
'What are you doing out of bed, Potter?'  
  
'Saving your life. She would have killed you on a night like this.'  
  
'Get back to bed before I give you a detention.'  
  
'Thank you too, sir,' sarcasm dripped from every word.  
  
Harry couldn't believe that man's lack of gratitude. He turned on his heel and stalked out of the room back to Gryffindor Tower. Maybe he shouldn't have saved Snape's life after all, but he convinced himself that he did it for Storm's sake rather than Snape's.  
  
Snape almost immediately dissolved into shakes. The shock hit him worse than anything, it was like his worst nightmare coming true. Harry was right, the rith would have killed him, it probably could have as well. It was just as well that Harry was there, but he hadn't even thanked the boy. Snape tried to pull himself together so he could go down to the classroom and take some of the healing potions he kept there for emergencies.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Remus's party was just coming to an end. All were thoroughly inebriated and telling everyone how much they loved each other and how much they meant it. Surprisingly it was Raq who was the worst and kept dissolving into fits of giggles. With a last rendition of 'The Wild Rover' accompanied by a lot of out of tune banging, the gathering started to disperse.  
  
Blowing out the candles, the Lupuscans staggered up to what appeared to be a blank wall. Lateo went through first, completely disappearing through the wall as if it wasn't there. Bracken and Moss followed, supporting each other, then the three Forest wolves and finally Moony and Raq. Raq tripped and fell through the portal, landing in a giggling heap on the other side. Moony stepped through and looked back to see the Wolven Door.  
  
'It really is a door, then,' he thought as he picked Raq up and half- carried the giggling woman up to his chambers, thanking anyone who was listening that his mate was not a big girl.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kelyn, Shadow and Ice were also making their way through the passageways laughing and whispering about the night they had had. Ice heard the footsteps first, being slightly less drunk than the others. He stopped them quickly with frantic shushings.  
  
Snape was on his way back from the dungeons when he heard what sounded like someone trying to be quiet but making a complete mess of it. His arm was not completely healed, he'd have to make another batch of the potion in the morning, but the pain was gone. He advanced stealthily on the miscreants and got the shock of his life when he cam face to face with them. One was a pale grey wolf, another looked like a man but had wolf-like ears and his whole lower body was covered in yellowy fur, the third was a man he recognised from when he was a student, 'Jones!'  
  
'Leg it!' The half-wolf yelled, and the man he recognised changed shape into a grey and red wolf and ran with the others. Snape gave chase, emboldened by the fact that he knew one of them and none stood their ground.  
  
Taking a more roundabout route, Kelyn led them to the opening above the main entrance. Then disaster struck.  
  
Careless from her headlong flight, Kelyn stumbled and tumbled down the stairs with an anguished howl. She landed at the bottom in a crumpled heap. Ice and Shadow ran after her and knelt down beside her.  
  
'I... I can't get up!' she whimpered.  
  
Ice could easily see that one of her legs was broken and that she was in a great deal of pain. He stroked her head soothingly, but his ears pricked at the sound of pursuit.  
  
'Shadow, go back home, tell Saiph what's happened.'  
  
'What about you?'  
  
'I'll look after Kelyn, she needs someone to stay with her and I'm not leaving her.'  
  
Shadow looked at the fierce determination in Ice's eyes and nodded his consent before taking off at full pelt towards the Forest.  
  
Snape could see that something had gone wrong with the wolves' escape. One was panting and whimpering at the bottom of the stairs and one other was standing protectively over her. Robbie Jones was nowhere to be seen. Now that he looked more closely he could see that the half-wolf was even more disfigured than he thought – his face pushed outwards in the manner of a snout and his legs were bent into a canine shape, he even walked on his toes. The hideous creature snarled at him. He heard footsteps behind him.  
  
'What on earth's going on, Severus?' Minerva McGonagall enquired. 'I was woken up by sounds of a chase.'  
  
'We have a wolf problem in the castle, Minerva. There was another one, an animagus, I recognised him immediately.'  
  
'Who was it?'  
  
'Robert Jones. He only left three years ago, I believe. If you could fetch Albus, I think I can hold these two at bay. I don't think the grey one's going anywhere.'  
  
Minerva hurried off after a quick curious glance at the scene at the bottom of the stairs. Ice laid down beside Kelyn to stop her getting cold from shock and licked her comfortingly between the ears. Snape shuddered involuntarily at the sight. Dumbledore was not long in coming.  
  
'Minerva tells me we have wolves in the castle.'  
  
'That one fell down the stairs, it must be injured otherwise they'd all be gone by now. An animagus was with them – Robert Jones.'  
  
'So Minerva tells me. We must have produced more illegal animagi in this school than any other in the world,' Dumbledore did not seem very disturbed by the revelation and started to make his way down the stairs.  
  
'What are you doing, Albus, they're dangerous!'  
  
Dumbledore looked up at the Potions Master, 'What do you suggest we do, Severus, kill them? At least not until I have found out why they are here.'  
  
'But they're dangerous, dumb animals!'  
  
'Minerva tells me she quiet clearly heard one of the animals shout "Leg it" and it wasn't the voice she remembered Jones having. But trying cannot harm.' Ice had stood up and was standing protectively over Kelyn again. Dumbledore spread his arms wide in a peaceful gesture, 'I mean you no harm. I only wish to help you. I think your friend is injured.'  
  
Ice nodded at Dumbledore.  
  
'My name is Albus, who are you?' Dumbledore spoke slowly as if addressing a child. He was surprised when the wolf answered him in a strong kiwi accent, but staccato sentences.  
  
'I'm Ice, this is Kelyn. She's broken her leg. She needs help. She can't stand.'  
  
'I will get someone to heal her. Where are you from, Ice?'  
  
Ice nodded his head towards the door, 'Forest.'  
  
'Where originally?'  
  
'New Zealand, South Island.'  
  
'Minerva, will you please fetch Poppy so she can look at Kelyn's leg?' Professor McGonagall nodded and left Albus to his strange conversation.  
  
'I don't like him,' Ice pointed to Snape, 'If he hadn't chased us Kelyn wouldn't be hurt.'  
  
'Why were you in the castle?'  
  
'I've never been here before. I was curious. Kelyn said she'd come with me, so did Shadow.'  
  
'Shadow? You mean Robert?'  
  
'No, I mean Shadow. I don't know anyone called Robert.'  
  
'You shouldn't have been in here.'  
  
'We meant no harm to anyone. If we hadn't been chased we'd have left and no one would have ever known we were here.'  
  
'Did you come in here during the lunar eclipse?'  
  
'I did not.'  
  
'But did any of your pack?'  
  
'My alpha did. That one there was hurting a brother.' He pointed to Snape again, 'We look after all wolves on our territory.'  
  
'That wolf was a werewolf.'  
  
'I know. Most of our pack are. We live how we please and cause no harm. We have heard that one howling before. A wolf should not be alone, especially not on a red moon. It is not natural. We only wanted to help and are sorry for any grief caused.'  
  
At his feet Kelyn whined and Ice looked down at her and gave a small comforting growl.  
  
'Kelyn is frightened, and she has good right to be. Humans have never done anything but harm to wolves.'  
  
'Is she your sister?'  
  
'No, she is my beloved. I will not leave her while she lives.'  
  
Kelyn's eyes sparkled at this new revelation and she laid her head on Ice's digigrade feet with a peaceful sigh. It was at this moment that Madam Pomfrey scurried into the entrance hall. With barely a second glance at her patient, or her protector, she knelt down beside the pale wolf and examined her all over. Kelyn winced as the witch's expert hands ran over the broken bone.  
  
'There's a clean break here, and also a couple of minor fractures. Hold her still, will you?'  
  
Ice bent down and held her head, whilst whispering wolfish words of love and comfort into her pricked ear. Kelyn grimaced as Poppy's magic went to work, but the pain was soon gone.  
  
'There, that's going to be stiff for a little while so she needs rest. If that's all, Albus, I have other patients to attend to.'  
  
Dumbledore smiled at Madam Pomfrey's brisk manner, and her lack of astonishment of her unusual patient. He supposed after so many years of working at the school she had seen it all, including working with Remus when he was at school.  
  
Kelyn stood rather shakily on her newly mended leg and was pleased to find no pain. Ice smiled at the Headmaster.  
  
'Many thanks to you, sir. Our healer could have mended her bones, but it would have taken a lot more time and there would have been no guarantee of success. She will now be able to hunt with the rest of the pack after she has rested. We shall leave now.'  
  
Ice and Kelyn began to walk out of the door with Dumbledore accompanying them. Snape was furious that once again the wolves running the halls of Hogwarts had gone unpunished. He followed the trio outside and saw the white wolf that had attacked him standing on the lawns a short distance from the doors. Kelyn ran over to him and he embraced the fair wolf warmly. He nodded to Ice before turning to Dumbledore.  
  
The master of the school and the lord of the woods kept eye contact for a short while before Saiph bowed in a gesture of respect and thanks and turned to lead his wayward wolves back to the safety of the trees where the rest of the pack was waiting.  
  
Dumbledore smiled at the ally that was now in his debt and walked back into the school. He wanted to talk with Snape about the meeting and the wound that he saw on his arm, but Severus had already gone. 


	26. The Lord of the Woods

Harry was still fuming when he got to the Gryffindor common room. Not fancying going back up to bed, he slumped down on one of the sofas and stared into the glowing flames of the fire there.  
  
He really couldn't get over Snape's lack of gratitude – sure the man hated him, but he had just saved his life, surely that at least deserved a thank you? But then again it was Snape that he was talking about. Storm's behaviour was more puzzling. What had possessed her to go into Snape's chambers and tear them up like that? Normally she just wanted to be outside, not causing huge amounts of destruction in teacher's living quarters. Perhaps Snape deserved it after the way he had been treating her. It was a vicious circle, Snape hurts Storm, so Storm gets revenge, so Snape hates her more and hurts her more. Snape should count himself lucky that Harry was there to save him.  
  
Harry often sat alone at night like this, he wouldn't have moved at all if it hadn't been to check on Storm, just staring into the flames. He found it strangely soothing to watch the flame's chaotic, leaping dance.  
  
He never admitted to anyone why he had so much trouble sleeping, especially this year. It had been the same since Cedric's death. His headaches were getting worse and his scar always hurt when he woke, and more often than not he felt the cold sweats of terror all over his body. He was having nightmares, and, what's worse, he knew that they weren't just figments of his imagination. Voldemort was gaining power, but he wasn't ready to announce himself just yet. There was a death almost every night, but minor deaths, not enough to draw attention to himself. But every time someone died Harry felt a part of himself die with them, just like his parents. Voldemort was just consolidating his power and broadening his alliances.  
  
Harry needed to speak to someone, to pour his heart out, but he didn't know who. Dumbledore would have been his first choice, of course, but the old man already had so much to contend with and his own alliances to make. He couldn't even talk to Ron and Hermione, they'd just worry over him and tell him to speak to Dumbledore.  
  
If anyone he wanted to talk to Sirius... or Storm. Now there was an idea. Storm had experienced enough pain and suffering to at least partly understand what he was going through. The more he thought about it he realised that was what he really wanted – not someone to fuss over him or pity him, just someone to understand. Storm's depth of feeling had touched the boy when he had spoken to her early that morning and he finally thought he'd found someone he could lean on without any thought of it backfiring.  
  
But, he thought bitterly, he wouldn't have any chance of finding her tonight when he most needed her – it was doubtful if she'd reappear before morning. And then something popped into his head, something Storm had said that morning – if he ever needed an impartial ear he should talk to Saiph in the Dark Forest. But who or what was Saiph and how did Storm know him? He decided that after all he didn't care. He'd talk to Aragog if he thought he'd listen.  
  
The rain outside had stopped and a thick mist had crept up due to the dampness and warmth of the world outside. He pulled on a thick robe and crept through darkened hallways, not knowing the drama that had unfolded in them but a few hours before.  
  
Harry hadn't realised how long he'd been staring into the flames until he saw that dawn was beginning to break through the mist. He'd have to hurry if he wanted to get back in time, but the sun was rising earlier each day.  
  
He hadn't even thought about the risks of going into the Forbidden Forest alone until he was well within the boundary of the trees, but by that time the creeping fog had made him lose his way completely, so, left with little recourse, he carried on. Finding Saiph was his only thought.  
  
Suddenly everything seemed much more frightening in the half-light of dawn. Trees and shrubs became terrifying foes and more than once he was about to attack an acromantula shaped holly bush or a clump of low-growing ferns that vaguely resembled a dragon lying in wait. 'Get a grip on yourself,' he told himself firmly as he wandered through the tall trees.  
  
Then a strange sound came whispering through the woods, a peaceful sound, high-pitched and musical. The sound of pipes.  
  
In the strange, ethereal world that Harry found himself in, the sound of pipes became eerie and magical, like the call of some unearthly bird or angel. He followed the sound like a rat to the pied piper, its haunting notes making him think of some Pan figure playing them. The sound grew steadily louder as he followed, and was surprised to hear a voice challenge him out of the haze.  
  
'Come ye no further, for thou art in the domain of the Lord of the Woods. Turn back now or face thy doom.'  
  
Harry had become so mesmerised by the sound of the pipes that he had almost forgotten why he had come, but Storm's advice to ask any creature he came across the whereabouts of Saiph came back in a flash, even though he didn't know what sort of thing he was addressing. However, the Lord of the Woods did sound quite intimidating.  
  
Harry unconsciously drew himself up to his full height and said back, 'I am looking for Saiph. My name is Harry Potter and I would speak with him. Will you take me to him?'  
  
A solidly built black wolf emerged from a clearing patch of mist. In his ears were several gold rings and feathers tied by short hide strings dangled from braided hairs on the top of his head and the back of his neck. Even though his head only came up to Harry's waist, Harry felt that the beast could easily knock him down with his thick, muscular frame. It was this creature's voice that had challenged him.  
  
'What want you with Saiph?'  
  
'Elhaz sent me. She said if I ever needed advice I should come to him.'  
  
'Elhaz is alive?'  
  
'Yes, she sent me.'  
  
Harry noticed the wolfs' eyes soften at the mention of Storm's first name and his antiquated manner of speech dropped to a gruff, normal way of speaking, 'Come with me then, Harry Potter, and I'll take you to the Lord of the Woods. I did not expect to meet you in our part of this forest, but you are welcome none the less.'  
  
'Thank you. What's your name?'  
  
'Faol.'  
  
Faol set a quick, ground-eating pace and at first it was hard for Harry to keep up with him, but Faol soon noticed his companions struggle and slowed down with an apologetic glance. He forgot that Harry was not used to travelling on such terrain, and that he also did not have four feet to keep his balance.  
  
They arrived at the base of a great oak. Harry had noticed the pipe music getting louder all the time they travelled, but now he could almost feel it. Faol called something unintelligibly up the tree and the pipes abruptly stopped. The black wolf looked up at Harry.  
  
'He will speak with you. I must go back to my post now.' Faol disappeared like a silent shadow into the haze, leaving Harry apparently alone. He was shocked when something huge and white dropped down beside him.  
  
Harry studied the strange apparition curiously. He had never seen anything quite like him, apart from Storm perhaps. He stood taller than her on his hind legs, and Harry himself, in fact Harry couldn't think of anyone apart from Hagrid who was taller than him. He towered a good head above Harry, and his body was muscularly built, although not stocky, but radiated raw power. His fur was the purest white Harry had ever seen, but it was his eyes that transfixed the Boy Who Lived the most. Bright gold in colour, they pierced to the core but radiated a sublime sense of protectiveness and love. Looking in his eyes Harry couldn't find anything to fear about him, despite his impressive size and destructive capability. His eyes held the caring, concerned quality of a father about them and it was all Harry could do not to throw his arms around the wolf. This was why Storm had sent him here.  
  
Saiph smiled down at the boy. To the wolf he looked so young and so fragile, but appearances were often deceiving as the father of the pack well knew, 'Welcome to my part of the Forest, Harry. Why do you seek me out in this dangerous place?'  
  
'Storm, I mean Elhaz, sent me. She said if anything was on my mind that I could not talk to anyone else about I should speak to you.'  
  
'My ears are always open for those who wish to use them, but there is a more comfortable place to speak than here. Before I take you there you must swear you will not tell anyone about what you are about to see. This is a secret place where normally only wolves are allowed to go, but as you have sought me so hard I will make an exception. I do not want anything bad to happen to my pack.'  
  
Harry nodded his acceptance and followed the great white wolf through the trees. Harry noticed the reed pipe hanging from one of Saiph's clawed paws, 'Was that you playing before?'  
  
'Yes. I always go to that oak to play. It's one of the oldest trees in this forest and it shares a little of its wisdom with me when I sit with it. The music just flows through me. It's a good place to think.'  
  
They spoke of something and nothing as they walked, anything that popped into their heads. Saiph was a good companion for he was easy to make laugh, and his laugh was infectious until they just walked and chuckled at nothing at all. Harry felt lucky that Storm had sent him to the paternal wolf. If he called himself the Lord of the Woods then he deserved it, but Harry doubted if the wolf would have even given himself such a grand title.  
  
Saiph put a finger to his black lips and motioned for quiet as he led Harry into a small rocky clearing. He could see why too. Draped in their favourite sleeping positions were Saiph's pack mates, his children. The white wolf led the way to where a large cauldron bubbled constantly over a regularly fed fire. He dipped two wooden bowls into the concoction within and offered one to Harry. He accepted and his stomach growled when he smelled the delicious meaty aroma coming from it. Saiph led him to a moss covered log that made a comfortable bench and they both sat in silence as they ate with fingers.  
  
Harry put down his bowl as Saiph's muzzle dipped inside his to lick out the rich gravy caked around the sides.  
  
'What was that?'  
  
Saiph removed his muzzle from the bowl and licked the final drips of gravy and meat flakes off his stiff whiskers and black nose. 'Deer, rabbit, pheasant, grouse, hare, pigeon, plus a few roots and herbs. A bit of whatever we can find goes in there. It's our staple diet. I'm glad you enjoyed it.'  
  
The pack were just beginning to wake and cast strange looks at their leader and his companion, but decided it was not their business. Some stoked up the fire and others gathered water and wood.  
  
'Now, Harry, what did you want to talk to me about...?'  
  
* * * * *  
  
The leader himself guided Harry back through the forest with practiced ease. Harry's heart felt lighter for having spoken to the great wolf and had received a fair hearing and the understanding he craved. Saiph had listened to him and given him advice as Sirius would have done had he been there, but without the righteous protectiveness that his godfather showed him. Saiph's opinion was much more balanced and Harry was thankful that the wolf had taken him into his inner sanctum and showed him a little of how he and his pack lived and Harry would have no more betrayed them than turned to Voldemort.  
  
He made his way across the grounds and felt the fatherly wolfs' eyes watch him until he was safely within the bounds of the castle. Harry turned to wave to the wolf, but despite his colouration the Lord of the Woods was a master of camouflage in his own domain.  
  
Saiph disappeared into the trees with the agility and grace of a born hunter, even though he was not born with the body he now possessed. Being the Lord of the Lupuscans was a hard job, he had to make sure his pack was content and that it survived, but Colvarn had taught him well.  
  
He had brought his pipe with him and instead of going to the pack grounds he went to his brother oak. He had a lot of thinking to do because of something that Harry had unwittingly said.  
  
He climbed the branches with practised ease and settled into the cradle between two spreading branches and raised the pipe to his lips. The music engulfed him entirely and called the aid of the wolf spirits to him.  
  
Elhaz was alive? It didn't make sense, or did it? When Saiph considered all the possibilities it made his head reel. He would just have to wait for a sign. Dark times were coming, he could feel it in his soul, and he would need all of his strength to face it. Perhaps that was why Elhaz had come back, to show them all the way forward, to death or glory, if she chose to return.  
  
His spirit flew upwards with his haunting music and, for the first time, he did not know what to do. 


	27. Twin Sapphires

The storm had moved northwest and took with it its namesake's temporary insanity. She sat at the shore of the lake, her lightning influenced fur rippling like the water of the lake, and couldn't help thoughts of the consequences of her actions creeping into her mind. She could now legally be destroyed under the Dangerous Magical Creatures Act if Snape pressed the matter. Malfoy would testify in favour of her prosecution, and she couldn't even speak in her own defence. Her gift was a dangerous one and she mustn't give away her secret if she could help it.  
  
What was worse, she hadn't even found what she had been looking for, and she was sure Snape had it somewhere. It glittered tantalisingly close in her mind – twin sapphires like an abstract reflection of her own eyes with a diamond set between them in white gold.  
  
She shook her head to remove the image and felt hot tears flying off her muzzle. She hadn't even realised she'd been crying.  
  
What she really needed was a sign to tell her what to do. The answer came so quickly and was so simple that she almost laughed. She steeled every nerve in her body for the hardest test of her life, harder than her survival during Lucius's dire punishments for her transgressions, for this one was self-imposed.  
  
A slight breeze ruffled her ear tufts and pulled at the thick fur as she held her head and tail high. Wading into the cool water with a grim smile fixed on her proud face, she submerged herself completely before taking the first powerful strokes and made for the horizon.  
  
If she died in the attempt, then so be it, she had lost nothing. If she was washed up at the mercy of the lake then she would stay as Storm and be happy with the life that had been given to her, the same rith that had been washed up before.  
  
But if she made it across by her own strength and force of will then perhaps Elhaz would live again, pick up where she had left off and show her true colours.  
  
She showed her long dagger-like canine teeth in a fierce defiance of the elements. It looked like Elhaz was back and she wasn't giving in that easily.  
  
The rith pushed tirelessly on through the icy water to meet her fate.  
  
Storm was not the only one making decisions that morning. When Bracken and Moss heard news by howl of what had occurred on the stairs the previous night, there was outrage and immediate plans to make up for Kelyn's lost dignity, and Snape's harsh words the way that the Lupuscans knew best.  
  
Snape was going to get the pranking of his life.  
  
At breakfast Harry wasn't really hungry – he'd had his fill at the wolf camp. Hermione and Ron had asked where he'd been, so he just said he'd gone for an early shower. He thought it'd be breaking his promise to Saiph if he told them where he'd really been.  
  
As the mail owls swooped into the Great Hall Harry didn't expect anything, but Hedwig dropped a letter on his bare plate. He recognised the writing immediately and ripped open the envelope.  
  
Dear Harry (it read),  
  
How are you? Life has been rather boring at Moony's so I am taking a trip. Dumbledore has called a meeting at the school so I am making my way up there. I hope to have the chance to speak to you, so watch out for me! I should be there in a couple of weeks, but I'll write before that and tell you my progress.  
  
All the best to Hermione and Ron.  
  
Snuffles.  
  
'Wow, that's great!' Ron said as he read the letter over Harry's shoulder.  
  
'I just hope he's careful if he's travelling,' Hermione sad with a look of concern as she read it over the other shoulder.  
  
'Do you two mind not reading my private letters?' Harry hissed at them, but he was pleased all the same. Sirius was coming to Hogwarts. Nothing could have made him happier.  
  
Bracken was recruiting for her merciless campaign – Fred and George Weasley were top of her list for ideas and tools for revenge, but there were a few others too. Pranksters and clowns from hers and other houses and years with a pathological loathing of the malicious Potions Master. Slytherins were not even considered for obvious reasons, but anyone else who wanted to join in the sport and were not going to give anyone else away were welcomed. By midday she had a good list, and the other Lupuscans were on the lookout for others as she had NEWTs to study for, Lateo had OWLs and there was only Moss left free to scheme, and scheme he duly did.  
  
'Mr Thomas!' Professor McGonagall's sharp voice cut through his dreams like a knife and he reluctantly pulled himself back to reality, 'If you could kindly tell me what is so interesting out of the window I would be delighted to know.'  
  
She stood in front of him tapping her foot impatiently on the floor and glared at him. He looked up at her with a sheepish grin and saw McGonagall's eyes widen in slight surprise. He looked down at his desk and saw... nothing. His brow furrowed in confusion before McGonagall placed a large brown rat on his desk.  
  
'If you don't concentrate, Jason, your animal will escape. I found yours halfway across the floor. I want to see a finch on this desk before the lesson is over.' She lowered her voice so no one else would hear, 'I'd like to know how there is no change in this rat but you have managed to turn your own eyes yellow?'  
  
'Sorry, Professor,' he mumbled and pointed his wand at his own face. They quickly changed back to their normal hazel colour.  
  
Damn it, why did they always have to do that at the most inopportune moments? They hadn't ever done it in Snape's lessons, thank the fates, but it was an idea that'd freak him out. He scribbled it down on a crumpled piece of parchment before turning his attention to the rat and attempting to turn it into an bird.  
  
The sun was high and hot. It made a figure below it steam as it crawled out of the lake. A distinctive black marking on her left hip stood out proudly, declaring her name for all who wished to see it.  
  
She panted heavily, her eyes hooded with exhaustion, and all she craved for was sleep. Her mind had been focussed on swimming and that alone. She didn't dare waste energy on pointless thoughts, not even now as she dragged herself up the rocky bank of the mirror calm expanse of water that separated her from everything that she knew.  
  
Elhaz had made it.  
  
She curled up underneath a shrub cleaned of dust by the previous nights downpour and fell asleep almost immediately, her face covered by her white- tipped tail and dreamt the dreams of the indomitable.  
  
'Where's Storm?'  
  
That phrase echoed throughout Hogwarts castle as afternoon darkened into evening. The rith hadn't been seen since the previous night, and only Snape knew why. Dumbledore had got wind of something, but was keeping quiet on the matter. The injury he had seen on Severus's hand last night had looked just like a bite, but if he chose not to mention it then he was not going to press the matter. It was his opinion that Storm was in hiding, fearing the consequences of her actions, and it was only a matter of time before she would appear again. Ones like her didn't just disappear without a trace, they were like bad pennies – they always came back.  
  
Some students and staff had offered to look for her, and he accepted their help gratefully. As much as he was sure of her eventual return, he'd rather have her back sooner than later to make sure that she didn't do anything else stupid.  
  
It was night before Storm awoke, and when she did full realisation dawned on her. She had done it – life had given her a sign. Her tail raised proudly as she surveyed the challenge she had overcome. Throwing back her head, she howled out her triumph to the star-strewn sky.  
  
Elhaz was back, and back to stay.  
  
She took a small drink of the water to slake her raging thirst, but not too much so it impeded her progress and set off at a brisk run round the edge of the great loch. Travelling by night was a much more sensible idea, and she felt as if she could run all night despite her trials during the day. Her black paws made no sound as they hardly touched the earth. The constellation of Lupus glowed brightly in her eyes as the full moon rose. 


	28. Not Quite a Stranger

It was like a time repeating itself – an almost perfect mirror image of the same scene of a few months before, exact but for the lack of frost on the grass. Raq and Moony were walking across the grounds, steam rising from the vaporising dew at their bare feet in the early warmth.  
  
It had been an emotionally exhausting night for both of them, but Raq most of all. There had been no hunting and she felt rather guilty about not warning her mate of what a sombre night it would be under the full moon's light. In all his years as a werewolf Remus had never even thought of the depth of feeling that the wolf inside had given him, and that others felt it too.  
  
The moment he had entered the clearing he had sensed it. There was none of the normal high spirits and good-natured play fights that were the normal precursor to a full moon hunt. Everywhere he looked he saw the Lupuscans sitting in quiet contemplation or binding dried grass and herbs to poles. He looked around for Saiph and eventually saw him walking towards the camp through the trees. Raq hurried over to him and held him in a comforting embrace. Even from a distance Moony could see the rivulets in his face fur formed by countless tears and he wondered what sort of a night he was in for.  
  
Ice handed a rough torch to each of his leaders and to anyone who could hold one. In a singular movement all dipped the grassy ends into the flames of the cooking fire and all caught light at once. The scent of the herbs that had been added crept sweetly into their sensitive nostrils as Saiph motioned that the party should move off.  
  
Remus was taken deeper into the forest than he had ever been before. The wolves walked in silence, with only the odd sniffing back of tears to break the absolute peace, torches leading the way like great guiding stars in the darkness of the benighted forest. He found himself walking alongside Faol, the black wolf, whose usually tough façade was being thoroughly betrayed by the bulging muscles at the sides of his tightly locked jaw in a desperate effort to maintain his composure. In all his years as a werewolf he would never have believed he would be part of such an occasion and that his killer instinct would be so thoroughly controlled.  
  
Upon reaching a new clearing he noticed several stone cairns that had been recently and meticulously decorated with flowers, feathers and other trinkets such as carved pieces of bone and coloured pebbles. Raq and Saiph stood at the head of two cairns which had been given special attention, but the left one more so, the one that Saiph stood behind. They placed their torches in the ground and began a quiet, wordless chant. The rhythm was picked up by the whole pack until it began to have a life of its own. Moony felt himself drawn into the song and was unaware of when the alpha external subtly directed the lament until it soared to the sky. He took out his pipe and played. In his skilled paws his pipe became a magical instrument that transported his pack into a deeper realm of hidden memories. He was a master of his art, but he owed it all to the one he had brought his pack to honour.  
  
Tears rolled down every cheek at the sadness they felt, although only few had known Colvarn when he lived but his life had influenced all of theirs. Silvery tears fell on the final resting place of the true Lord of the Woods next to his erstwhile partner whose cairn was empty for she had fallen outside of the woods and her body lay elsewhere, but as alpha she had shared equal tribute.  
  
Such remembrances of their dead brought the pack closer as a whole and Saiph's tearful speech explaining who Colvarn and his partner were hit every one of them with great force and even those who had never met him felt part of his legacy living within all of them and left Moony with a deeper understanding of himself than ever before.  
  
But once the mourners had gone someone who was no stranger crept into that sacred place and dismantled one of the carefully decorated graves and left after paying homage to the true Lord of the Woods.  
  
Hand in hand Raq and Moony walked in an exhausted but contented silence through the half light of dawn.  
  
'What's that?' Something blue in colour was wedged in the hollow between two huge tree roots. It's colour swirled and shimmered oddly, like oil on water.  
  
A head emerged from the iridescent mass – a canine head bisected by a black stripe with two cross stripes on her muzzle and an identical white flash underneath each sleep-glazed eye.  
  
'It's Storm!'  
  
An ostrich feather tail flopped feebly through the loam and deeply hooded eyes looked groggily up at them from her comfortable nest in the hollow bowels of the old tree, it's branches spreading above her like protective arms.  
  
'Come on you. Albus has been worried about you. You're coming back with us.'  
  
Storm yawned widely, showing off her long white teeth, and shook the leaf mould off her thick coat. She stretched her cramped legs luxuriantly before grudgingly following their languid pace. She was a little surprised to see Remus with Diana, but not as shocked as others would have been. She should have seen it coming. The time was drawing near now.  
  
'Did you say something?'  
  
Remus looked at her, puzzled, 'Sorry?'  
  
'I thought I heard someone say something.'  
  
'I didn't hear...'  
  
Raq hissed furiously at him, 'There! Hear it?'  
  
Moony listened hard but eventually shook his head, 'What did it say?'  
  
'Show your colours, Raq, show your colours.'  
  
'What does that mean?'  
  
'I don't know, it doesn't make sense.'  
  
They walked in frustrated silence, Raq quarrelling with the alien voice in her head telling her things that she had forgotten and things she never knew. At one point her whole face tightened with an undisclosed emotion.  
  
'What is it?  
  
'Nothing, don't worry.'  
  
But Remus did worry, he worried a lot. Hearing voices was never a good sign and he was concerned that Raq was overworked. Her job was far more than just flying instructor and quidditch coach – as alpha internal of the Lupuscan Circle she had responsibilities to make sure that life among the pack ran smoothly, but hidden. If anyone ever found out about their existence the consequences didn't bear thinking about.  
  
Raq would lose her job, but that was the least of her worries. Remus knew only too well how hard it was for a werewolf to make their way in the world, but to have the name Lupuscan tied to them, especially the youngsters, would make life nearly impossible for them.  
  
He was only just beginning to understand the Lupuscans – mainly made up of those who felt the wolf inside of them and craved for an expression of their 'true' personality with the odd scattering of involuntary werewolves like him – but he admired their courage to be different.  
  
They couldn't help being born different with only a vague understanding of what they were. Their unusualness often made them outcasts until Lupus called and taught them about themselves. That was the one and only reason why the Lupuscan Circle had been formed and was still Lupus's main task – to educate her followers in the ways of the pack.  
  
Storm tagged along behind them and followed the proceedings with deaf ears, flat eyes and an odd, self-satisfied grin on her inward-looking face before scratching out a loose clump of fur from her neck and shook herself back to reality watching the long hairs float away on the gentle summer breeze. She hated moulting.  
  
Raq and Storm slipped into the Great Hall unnoticed. Both had a ravenous appetite and were looking to sate it on the delicious things that sent out so many mouth-watering scents.  
  
Storm had not eaten at all yesterday, combined with her huge physical exertion in swimming the lake and running back made her stomach growl with unprecedented force, even with all of her experience of punishment starvation at the hands of Lucius Malfoy she didn't think she'd ever felt this hungry.  
  
Slipping under the Gryffindor table, she crept through the rows of legs until she found one with a very familiar scent. Nudging them, she hoped that their owner would be sharp enough to understand what she wanted.  
  
Harry jumped when he felt a cold, wet nose push up against his legs. He looked beneath the table to see Storm looking up and him and wagging her tail appealingly. He caught on immediately and started passing rashers of bacon, pieces of toast and sausages under the table where they were gone almost before they touched her mouth.  
  
Hermione noticed how much Harry was eating and looked at him with mild bewilderment before observing his hand regularly disappearing under the table with food in it and returning empty. She looked down to see Storm licking her lips as another sausage passed smoothly down into her gullet. Soon Storm had two people feeding her and blessed her wolfish stomach that seemed able to take in amazing quantities of food without any adverse after effects apart from needing a good sleep. All that was offered passed gratefully into her amazing expandable stomach.  
  
A huge flock of owls swooped into the Hall carrying the morning mail. Hermione put a knut into the news owl's pouch before it flew away. Harry was disappointed to see no more letters from Sirius, but his disappointment was soon alleviated but the look of Snape's face as he unrolled a brightly coloured magazine with a bold title that proudly declared 'Potion Making for the Magically Impaired: A Beginners Guide'.  
  
Half the students had noticed, Snape getting post was a rare enough occurrence, but Snape getting this sort of thing was hilarious. Nudges and grins passed around to those who hadn't noticed until nearly everyone was looking at the Potions Master with badly hidden giggles and smirks.  
  
Snape looked furiously round for the culprit, but it could have been any one of them. He then slyly glanced at the Staff table to only find barely suppressed mirth erupting on every face. He slammed the magazine down on his plate, splashing most of its contents onto his robe and causing a further outbreak of cough-covered laughs, before storming out of the Hall.  
  
As soon as he'd gone three of the House tables let go and their snorts and chuckles were a long time in stopping. Storm had watched the proceedings with the utmost delight and was now rolling around on the floor holding her sides.  
  
The culprit of the incident had gone completely undetected and was now planning the next stunt. 


	29. Of White and Winged Wolves

She looked around the unfamiliar landscape and felt not the slightest stab of fear. The moon was so bright and cast everything in a shade of purest silver. Everything looked so magical and perfect in the silent shades of night. The stars glittered like diamonds and she felt like she could watch them forever.  
  
There was something different about her, she could feel it, and when she looked down at herself she almost laughed in joy. Ivory coloured fur covered her belly, shading to reddish brown and she could just see a cape of white, grey and black with deep red streaks like flames intersecting the pattern. Her hands were covered with the same reddish fur with small pointed claws instead of nails at their tips.  
  
Running over to a pool she gazed at the reflection that should have been strange, but it was not. The same fiery splashes worked their way over a long muzzled face with stiff whiskers and erect, rounded ears. But it was her eyes that made her gasp. Deep yellow, almost orange at their edges, and set deep in finely chiselled features they sparkled at her in the moonlight.  
  
'You are a very beautiful wolf, my dear.'  
  
She startled at the voice and turned to face the origins. Sitting watching her was a white wolf, the same white wolf that had haunted her dreams for so long. The wolf was smiling at her and she felt comfortable within this wolfs' gaze.  
  
'I think you are ready to understand what you are, Firethorn.'  
  
'How did you know...?'  
  
'I know all of my own. Come, my dear, follow old Lupus and I will answer all the questions your heart has longed to know.'  
  
She suddenly found herself standing in a very familiar place, 'But this is...'  
  
'Sssh. Look.'  
  
She looked at the figures on the Wolven Door and saw them moving.  
  
'My family, my pack. Lupus watches over all. Come.'  
  
Lupus disappeared into the wall, and Firethorn followed.  
  
'Welcome to the Hall of Dreams, my dear.'  
  
'Shut up, Aisling!'  
  
One of the girls in the Ravenclaw dormitory threw a pillow at the drapes surrounding Aisling's bed. She awoke immediately.'  
  
'Wha... what?'  
  
'What are you, some sort of freak?'  
  
'Huh?'  
  
'Who howls in their sleep?'  
  
'What's going on here?'  
  
All those awake looked at the door where the eldest Ravenclaw prefect stood.  
  
'Aisling was howling in her sleep, Lucy.'  
  
'Really? Can I have a word with you, Aisling?'  
  
'Okay.'  
  
Lucy led the way to the common room and sat down on one of the leather sofas there. Aisling flopped down and sighed heavily thinking she was about to get a telling off, but the question she was asked surprised her and made her sit bolt upright.  
  
'Aisling, do you know who Lupus is?' Lucy could tell from the girls wide eyes and flabbergasted expression that she did. 'I thought so. Have you told anyone else about this?'  
  
'Only Madam Hooch at Christmas.'  
  
'Ah, I thought Raq would be the first to find out.'  
  
'Then you don't think I'm a freak?'  
  
'If you're one then I'm one too.' Bracken pointed her wand at her face and her eyes turned yellow. Aisling threw herself on the girl and hugged her tightly, not having words to express the joy she felt at being understood.  
  
Lucy just hugged her right back.  
  
The day dawned that most fifth years had been dreading – OWLs exams started at ten thirty that morning, starting with Transfiguration. Half the students skipped breakfast in order to catch up on some last minute cramming. Some were stomach-churningly nervous whilst others took it in their stride.  
  
Snape looked vindictively over his uneaten meal at the blankness of the table. He'd already had a meeting with Dumbledore that morning, and he hadn't liked the outcome of it. His rith had returned the previous morning seeming little the worse for wear, but the headmaster had apparently figured out the cause of Snape's injury and had brought him up to the study.  
  
The damned creature had come up to him apparently apologetically, and Dumbledore had bought the whole act hook, line and sinker. There was something in the animal's eyes, a smug challenge, as if daring him to make a scene, that he'd never seen in an animal before. He'd felt almost forced to accept the sham gesture. The rith was too cunning and devious for its own good, and what's worse only he saw it. Everyone else was enamoured with the vicious brute. It seemed to cast a protective veil over its transgressions that made everyone else except him blind to its faults, much like Potter.  
  
He jumped out of his skin when something gaudily coloured landed on his untouched meal. With blazing anger he read the title of this one: "The Housewitch" and was enraged to read that it boasted "101 popular knitting patterns". But, like the other, this was addressed to "Prof. Severus Snape, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" so there was no mistaken identity. With a hiss of rage the magazine burst into flames and he departed from the Hall before he thought anyone noticed.  
  
However, he was wrong.  
  
'Where do you keep getting all these from?'  
  
'Back of the Prophet. Free trial subscriptions. Don't worry he's got plenty of others coming, including a lonely hearts specialist magazine. He doesn't get away with insulting us that easily. You know what you've got to do?'  
  
'On it, don't worry.'  
  
'Oh, I won't, but he might.'  
  
Harry sat gazing nervously at his Transfiguration textbook but not taking in a word of it along with about half of the other fifth years outside the classroom, which had become an exam room. Ron was sitting beside him looking rather pale and playing with the frayed sleeve of his robes.  
  
Everyone turned expectantly when the door opened and Professor McGonagall walked out, 'Harry Potter.'  
  
Harry swallowed the bile that had welled up in his throat and walked shakily behind the teacher. Most of the tables had been cleared out of the room leaving only three where the examiners were sitting and the larger of the cages which could not be easily moved. Parvati seemed to be just finishing.  
  
'You can leave your things at the back of the room, Potter, and collect them at the end of the exam.'  
  
Harry nodded and dumped his book on a table at the back. He looked at one of the cages and was shocked to see Storm inhabiting the largest one, but not quite the Storm he knew. Sprouting from her shoulders were two extremely large wings. The unusual appendages were edged in black, mediating to white feathers and then to long blue flight feathers. Storm herself did not seem unduly worried, in fact she looked rather pleased with herself, her arms crossed and a smug expression on her wolfish face. She winked at him and flapped her new wings, hitting him with a powerful gust of wind that hid her whisper of 'Good luck' from everyone but for who it was meant.  
  
Professor McGonagall noticed him staring and came over. 'Just an accident this morning, I'll put her right. Come on, Harry, you're keeping the examiner waiting.'  
  
Harry sat at the table opposite a kindly looking old wizard. He stretched out his hand, 'Harry Potter I presume? My name is Magnus Lesath and I'll be your examiner. Don't worry, I doubt I'll ask you anything you don't know so just relax.'  
  
The exam didn't turn out to be as hard as Harry thought it would be. Lesath was right, he'd learnt everything he needed to know from Professor McGonagall and so it didn't turn out to be that bad. He transfigured everything successfully and answered all questions with only a few hesitations. He even amazed himself as to how much he had learned.  
  
'Thank you, Mr Potter. You can leave now.'  
  
Harry collected his books and left through another door and went out into the open air where he was immediately pounced on by Hermione.  
  
'How did you do?'  
  
'It wasn't that bad after all. He didn't ask me anything I didn't know.'  
  
They lay in the summer sunshine for a while, after Harry had managed to dissuade Hermione from dissecting her performance as it made him feel considerably less confident.  
  
'Ron, over here!' Hermione waved to the still pale Ron. 'How did you do?'  
  
'Okay.' He squeaked, belying the accurateness of his statement. They asked no more questions.  
  
Most of the exams went well. Harry found the Potions one not as bad as he thought it was going to be, and considerably easier when he didn't have Snape breathing down his neck and threatening him constantly. Divination was a joke and the backup plan of make something up held both him and Ron in good stead. Almost everyone breezed DADA thanks to Lupin's guidance.  
  
Storm's wings finally disappeared after McGonagall found what had happened, but the rith seemed to miss them quite a bit.  
  
High spirits reigned supreme once the exams were over, except in the seventh years whose NEWTs started at the beginning of the next week. Harry was surprised to see yellow eyes constantly appearing in various classes, although especially Snape's and for this he got the blame. Irritated as he was, he was surprised when the culprit of these outbreaks took him to one side.  
  
'I'm sorry about you getting the flak for this, Harry, I'll own up if you want me to, but I'd appreciate it if you'd help me instead.' Justin Finch- Fletchley, the previously uptight Eton boy, held out his hand in a gesture of truce. 'They're aimed at Snape, you know, he's really annoyed me and did something that I can't talk about to one of my friends. Would you like to get some of your own back on him?'  
  
Harry took his hand, 'Sure. By the way, how are you doing that yellow eye thing?'  
  
Justin grinned and held out a bag of innocent looking sweets, Harry remember eating some but had never put Justin and the prank together, 'Goldeneye gum. A joint development of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes and some friends of mine. Very effective, don't you think?'  
  
'Pretty good. What do you want me to do?'  
  
'Come with me, my friend.' 


	30. Pranksters Paradise

_Once again, I am so so sorry this has taken so long. I started writing it ages ago, but never got round to posting it, one of the main reasons being that most of the prank ideas in this chapter aren't mine, but I can't find the place where I found them. The main point really, is that they aren't mine, I've just borrowed some ideas. If anyone finds the place where I found them, let me know and I'll give them full credit here. Thanks. _

_Marl_

Black curtains shut out a golden summer dawn, casting an illusion of eternal night and throwing all into eerie shadow. Books and pictures lined the walls, the cluttered paraphernalia of a life crammed into two chambers. For those who had seen it, it looked very much like the Hall of Dreams, but there was an air of melancholy and loneliness that the place of the Lupuscans simply did not have.

In this dark, reflective environment an irregularity in breathing heralded the reawakening of Severus Snape into the conscious world.

He sighed loudly, loath to leave his comfortable bed for the countless petty annoyances of a school teacher. The sudden prickling sensation of pins and needles coursed painfully up his arm from where he'd slept on it, making him curse to himself.

He closed his eyes, making the darkness absolute, and rolled over onto his right side. When he opened them again he found himself staring eye to eye with Storm, even though hers were closed in peaceful sleep.

A startled yell escaped his lips. Storm's azure eyes flew open and an equally loud scream of shock broke from her throat, and the fright made her slip straight off the side of the bed and become half entangled in the surrounding drapes on the way down before landing painfully on the bare floor.

She'd been dreaming of better things on the most comfortable bed she'd slept on in years and received the shock of her life when dragged out of quiet slumber by Snape's yells and opened her eyes to see his face only inches from her own.

Severus leapt out of bed and ran for the door to the sitting room. Storm dashed clumsily past him, scrabbling the main door open and bounding quadrupedaly down the golden lit hallways.

Severus slumped on a black leather armchair and reached for his emergency bottle of firewhiskey to calm his jangling nerves.

Once down in her dungeon Storm was overcome by an uncontrollable fit of the giggles. Remembering the circumstances of how and why she got into Severus's boudoir made the situation rather amusing, especially when the result had been better than she'd expected. Digging something out from under her old blanket, she chuckled maliciously at the thought.

He was going to pay for what he had done to her almost sixteen years ago – in kind if she could swing it. An eye for an eye, blood for blood, but for now humiliation would be enough.

Remus sat with his wolfy friend, Storm, in the recently deserted classroom. Since the Versipellis incident she'd gradually begun sitting in on his lessons again. He'd missed her company while she was absent, but she seemed a lot more relaxed now and listened a lot more calmly.

He felt that she was taking in a lot more than his students were, especially at the end of the year, but he thought he'd even caught the slight ghost of a smile when he'd been explaining to the third years about the prejudices towards werewolves, a condition he was all too familiar with.

'This is the hardest thing I have to teach because it is not about facts or knowledge. It is about your own feelings towards others, and the value of friendship. The best words I ever found on the subject were given to me by a very good friend when I was not much older than you are now.

'Back then I experienced a great fear of revealing what I was because of the prejudice I would incur, and sometimes I still feel that way. When she came up to me after finding out what I was I wanted the earth to simply open up and swallow me whole. But instead of being afraid or disgusted by me she grabbed me by the shoulders and forced me to look into her eyes, and these were the words she said:

'"Remus Lupin, just look at me, you moron! You honestly think I care about you being a werewolf more than you being my friend? You remember what I'm going to say to you, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Never ever question your worth because of what you are. You're no less than anyone else just because you're different. If you're ever in doubt don't question what you are, question who you are. That way you can change. If you ever ask what then you're just the same as everyone else, O.K? As long as you stay Remus you'll still be my friend."

'I can't put it better to you than that. There's dark times ahead and you lot need to stick together. I hope those words serve you as well as they did me.'

Remus bent down and scratched behind the marbled rith's ears and she leaned into the gesture, closing her eyes in pleasure.

'Doesn't mean a lot to you, does it? Doesn't matter to you that those words are all that's left of one of my old friends. As long as someone feeds you and takes care of you, you don't care what happens.'

Something odd happened as he looked into Storm's eyes, a strange voice invading his mind. "Don't you believe it, mate."

He shook his head, blaming the heat and stuffiness of the classroom. 'Come on, you, we'd better check that Severus is still alive and in one piece.'

Remus watched the rith trot along the stone ways and wondered, not for the first time, if there might be more to Storm than met the eye.

It was just as well that he decided to check on Snape.

He was on 'babysitting' duty with the seventh years. They had now finished their exams and were now ready to meet the outside world head on, but while they were still at school there was still time to fit in a few last stunts. They were practically uncontrollable. But it was Lucy Seymour and the Weasley twins that irked him most.

First of all they were nowhere to be seen, but definitely heard. Then they came into sight – absolutely pissed as newts and singing very loudly, and very badly, a couple of their friends just as bad and stumbling and giggling all over the place. A bottle of clear liquid dangled from Lucy's hand.

He stormed up to them, 'What in the name of Merlin do you think you're playing at?'

He was shocked when Lucy threw her arms around him in a hug, 'Hello Severus! Fancy a drink with us?'

The Potions Master turned his head away from the alcoholic fumes emanating from her mouth, 'Lucy, are you drunk?'

She finally let him go and looked at him with what would have been righteous indignation if it weren't for the inane grin plastered across her face and glazed eyes, 'Me? Drunk? No!' It was at this point that she swayed violently and landed in a large laurel bush where she immediately gave vent to a raucous laugh. Fred and George were holding onto each other in an effort to laugh and not fall over at the same time.

Snape saw red, 'Do you really want me to give you detention in your last week?'

Lucy shielded her eyes against the sun that was now directly in them, 'Now, sir, I will not be swayed by your sweet words of temptation.'

'Never in all my years have I...'

He was stopped in mid-flow when he realised that the Weasley twins were imitating everything he said in a high-pitched, squeaky voice. Turning to glare at them, he found that they simply glared back, and, when he became tired of the charade, they started hooting and shouting 'We won!'

Lucy yawned, 'I'm sorry, sir, but the thrill is gone. Professor Lupin!'

Remus, having just arrived, became the new target for Lucy's attention. She threw her arms around his neck, 'How is our favourite Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher?'

Slightly embarrassed, Remus untangled himself from his fellow Lupuscan's embrace, 'Get off, Brack, you're ratted.'

'But you're so lovely!'

'I'll leave this bunch of inebriates in your capable hands, Remus,' Snape hissed.

Lucy once again fell on him, 'Don't go, Severus, we need you to protect us in case Remus turns wolfy on us!'

'If he does I hope he eats you first.'

Snape stalked furiously away, not realising that Fred had given him a fluffy white rabbit tail and George had put a charm on his robes so they floated like a five foot collar, revealing his new appendage for all to see.

'Done?' Harry asked.

'Just about,' Justin shut the door with some difficulty.

'You don't think this is going too far?'

'Come on, after all the grief he's put you through?'

'I s'pose. What'd he do to you anyway?'

'He tried to kill one of my friends, and I've never forgiven him for what he did to Storm that time.'

'He's coming!'

The trio – Ron, Harry and Justin – fled the scene just as Snape rounded the corner. All he wanted was to wind down after the hellish lesson he had just endured. However, it wasn't to be.

His passwords wouldn't work. No matter what he tried the door wouldn't open. He stepped backwards and something crumpled under his shoe. He picked up the ball of paper and opened it. Letters, obviously cut out from the 'Prophet' read, "Try flowers and lollipops".

With a ball of bile rising in his throat that he nearly choked on, he said the revolting sentiment. The door swung open to reveal his chambers filled from floor to ceiling with balloons and flowers, completely ruining the classy environment he was used to. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to look at it the same way again and he was going to make whoever did it pay.

'It's just high spirits, Severus. I thought you'd have come to expect it after all these years.'

'It's never been on this scale, Albus.'

'We do have the Weasley twins graduating, you know. Most of the staff are feeling it. Diana's been going around with a wolf tail the past few days, we've had wings attached to Storm and various odd transfigurations and charms flying about. You remember what it was like to be finally off. Your year was one of the worst, as I remember it.'

'Because of Black and Potter.'

'Indeed. Caught most of the seventh year skinny-dipping in the lake, as I recall, on their final evening. Half the sixth year and some of the fifth too.'

'How could I forget,' Snape snarled.

Oh yes, he remembered all right. Being grabbed by people who were still a mystery to this day and thrown into the lake, fully clothed, accompanied by loud jeers and yells of 'That ought to wash some of the grease out of his hair!' and 'Having a bath at last, Snivellus!' He remembered being ducked repeatedly, despite being a rather weak swimmer, having his clothes stripped away and finally running off in shame to cough up lungfuls of water and trying to cover his manhood as best he could.

Dumbledore remembered that rather gangly teen trying to report most of his year for that night. A half-hearted reprimand was all he could muster at the time, trying, as he was, not to laugh.

'Let them have their fun, then you'll be rid of them for good!'


	31. The Envoy of Darkness

_This chapter has been in my mind since I first started writing this story. If you can, listen to Vanessa Mae's 'I'm a doun for the lack o' Johnnie and try to imagine wolf howls in the place of the violin and that's what I was trying to get at with the Lupuscan song. Enjoy! And special thanks to those who had been waiting so long for this story to continue and never gave up, keep reviewing, guys, I really value your comments_

- - - - - - - - -

The next morning found Storm exercising in an open field. The sun had just broken above the horizon and tendrils of mist were weaving their way upwards. In this mystical environment the blue rith looked like a ethereal spirit as she danced and stretched.

After her initial starvation she was unhappy as to how weight was going back to her body and set about gaining back some muscle tone. To most her way of exercising would have been a strange spectacle – running, leaping and performing acrobatic little twists and manoeuvres by turn according to how right it felt doing at the time.

Feeling an ache begin to settle into her muscles, she took a short run off the edge of a slight cliff and plunged head first into the icy water below. Swimming back to shore, she shook her thick fur nearly dry. The time for the masquerade was nearly over, the wind of change was in the air, and she would not be sorry to see it pass.

She missed the wings she had gained for a brief few days, they had proved extremely useful and great fun. It hadn't been the first time it had happened, though. Her first master had given them to her once, he'd said she'd have been an angel if she had wings. However, that time when she'd taken off she'd found that she couldn't control them and had fallen back to earth, gaining several broken bones in the process.

Storm's stomach growled, exercise had given her a serious appetite, but she had something to do before she ate.

- - - - - - - - - -

Harry and Ron were making their tired way down to breakfast. There had been an all night party owing to the celebration that there was only one week left at Hogwarts. Hermione hadn't even been seen to surface yet and they had reliably been informed not to bother waiting as it might be a while before she was seen.

They heard the crowd before they saw them, chattering loudly and laughing. Hurrying to see what was going on they turned the corner and came face to face with a mixed bunch of all years and houses. They saw Neville in the heart of the throng.

'What's going on, Nev?'

'I saw Storm savaging something, I thought she must've found it dropped somewhere, but look!'

A well-worn and now rather chewed teddy bear sailed through the air and Harry caught it. It was rather sickeningly cute and when Harry read the tag he almost dropped it in shock. He handed it wordlessly to Ron, unable to speak because of the stifled laughs that threatened to choke him.

Ron's jaw dropped, 'It can't be!'

In large, childish script, the tag of the teddy bear proudly proclaimed that it's name was 'Cuddles' and it belonged to 'Sevrus'.

'Snape? Oh my god...' Ron dissolved into helpless laughter. The thought of the strict potions master still owning such a thing was hysterically funny. Harry, however, smelt a rat. Or rather a rith.

Storm had slipped around a corner and Harry found her leaning up against a wall pawing away at the mirthful tears that poured down her face and chuckling uncontrollably.

'That was quite cruel, you know.'

Storm jumped, but seeing who it was she gave him a look which could easily have been taken as "Oh, come on, it's a laugh!"

'What've you got against him, anyway?'

Storm snorted and leaned harder against the wall, pretending to be nonchalantly studying her claws as Snape strode past.

'Oh God, here we go...'

Snape's voice was low but could be heard by all, even those still creased up with laughter, 'What is going on...' Then, as he obviously found the bear, 'If I find out who is responsible for this they will be in detention for the rest of their school lives.'

Harry heard an equally low voice, 'Well, that's me safe then,' but when he turned to answer the voice only he knew existed Storm had already gone.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Something was wrong. The Great Hall was too quiet. Everyone sat waiting for the announcement and when it came it hit like a bombshell.

Albus Dumbledore stood, his face grave, 'Last night there was a brutal attack on a village in Yorkshire. Several people were killed and many injured. As some know last night was a full moon and this attack was the work of a dark order known as the Lupuscan Circle, a group of very violent and vicious werewolves. This faction has long been associated with Voldemort and I believe that this only proves his gathering strength in the fact that he has allowed his elite bodyguard on a murderous rampage. I must all of you to make sure you go nowhere alone and do not go anywhere near the Forest. Further details will no doubt be found in the Daily Prophet.'

An immediate tidal wave of speculation broke loose, although several sat thunderstruck at the implications of this announcement. Diana's breakfast had turned to ash in her mouth and she excused herself quickly, feeling sick with worry. She had to contact Saiph and see if he knew anything.

Storm's eyes were ablaze with anger and one name sprang immediately to mind – Fenris. Damned stupid, scarred Fenris. As soon as the news owls swooped she leapt and snatched one of the papers before running away with it.

Settling down in the cool quiet of a hollow oak where she would not be disturbed she read the headline with a sinking heart, "Murderous Werewolves on the Rampage – Vicious Lupuscan assassins create a bloodbath". She took a deep breath and read the six page article with a growing rage. Finally finishing she screwed the thing up and chucked it away.

The attacks were led by a scarred black and white wolf with only one eye. Oh, yes, she knew him all right. Fenris, the Outcast. She remembered the night she'd taken his eye and the retribution visited upon her family because they were looking for her. If only the fools had known who Elhaz was, and that she still walked the earth.

Come nightfall everyone was going to know the truth. The Lupuscans were coming home at last.

- - - - - - - -

Dusk fell after another hot day, but few had rejoiced in its pleasures. Most were worried about friends and family and the tragedy had cast a sad pall over a previously jubilant atmosphere.

Storm had disappeared for the day and the Lupuscans inside the walls of Hogwarts were shell-shocked and uncooperative, mainly wanting to be alone with their own thoughts. Raq had been unable to contact Saiph and she was worried.

As the sun dipped below the horizon Elhaz returned from the grave.

Striding with a fierce purpose never before seen, she pounded the bare stone floor with leathery foot pads, her head held high and her eyes glowing like twin shafts of light. Anyone before her got out of her way, for she was going to brook no argument. In her weakness she had found her strength.

Finally at the highest point of Hogwarts she climbed out onto the roof and felt the slight breezes tug at her fur and knew that this was the day she had waited for all her life. Stars shone brightly in the velvety night and she felt the pull of destiny telling her what must be done. With the strength born of fifteen years of loss, of pain and of fear, she poured her heart and soul into one song. A song that lifted her heart to the rising moon. She howled that all would hear her and know her message. Howled to summon her brothers and sisters back to the Hall of Dreams.

She dipped her head and felt the song rise up as she arched her head back until she stood like a goddess upon the roof of the world, her jaws agape and her throat full with the ancient hymn of her wild brothers.

- - - - - - - - - -

Diana was in the staff room when she heard the call. Severus, Minerva and Remus were also there. She was drinking a cup of coffee laced with Firewhiskey when the primordial song entered her ears and her heart. She spluttered and choked on the hot liquid as she recognised the singer, and the meaning of the song. She was bringing them back.

'What on earth is that racket?' Minerva asked.

'I'll sort it out, Minerva. Remus, fancy coming along?'

Remus caught the urgency in her voice and followed unquestioningly. He was shocked when she seized his hand and with an almost childlike delight asked him, 'Do you hear her? They're all coming back, she's dead but she's bringing them back. Elhaz has come home.'

'I hear howling, but I don't understand.'

'Elhaz is calling them all back. Every Lupuscan within hearing range will heed that call. We're answering the threat that has been placed upon us.'

'And Elhaz is?'

'The alpha internal before me. I never wanted her place, but seeing as she died...'

'And once again, Elhaz is?'

'You knew her, Moony, as Enyana Barrett.'

Remus's head reeled. Enyana was alive, and here? It didn't make sense. How could he have not seen her? He would have recognised her in an instant, wouldn't he?

- - - - - - - - - -

Storm watched the forest and soon the whisper of wind came to her ears, or what would have been considered as wind to anyone else. But she knew better. To her they were howls carrying messages, "I'm coming, I'm coming" "I shall meet you" "I will soon be there" and another that gladdened her heart "Welcome home".

As soon as she saw them beginning to emerge from the trees she climbed down to make her way to meet them. But she found her way to the exit blocked. She bowed low with a cheeky grin and found herself embraced by a pair of affectionate arms. 'You, how could you keep this secret from me?'

Opening her mouth in the presence of someone other than Harry or Dobby, the rith formerly known as Storm replied, 'I'm sorry, Raq. I didn't know I was myself up until recently. And if it weren't for Moony's help I don't know if I would ever have done.'

Remus stared into the riths eyes and saw in them the eyes that he knew so well of one of his best friend's fiancé, 'It is you. But how...? How did I help?'

'Versipellis, my friend. How else do you think I became blue? But, come on, they're waiting. Oh and Moony, welcome to the good side.'

Elhaz bounded away, leaving the lovers to follow in her joyful wake.

- - - - - - - -

Outside the wolves began gathering. Within the hour every Lupuscan that could have heard was gathered on the frontage to the castle. Elhaz had been mobbed by everyone who had known her before she had 'died'. Eventually she resurfaced amongst much cheering and backslapping. Raq had ceded her position as alpha without argument – she had never wanted it anyway.

'Come on then, we might as well let them know we're here.'

The twenty or so Lupuscans that entered the main doors were initially surprised by the lack of anyone to meet them. The only ones that were there were Bracken with her violin, Moss, Lateo and Firethorn. They had forgotten that anyone else would have merely thought of Elhaz's song as Storm sounding off again.

'Come on Kel, start us off, let's shake these old stones.'

Kelyn started off in a very peaceful vein, and it was a song that most recognised. Ice removed his drum from across his back and began softly beating the rhythm as the harmonious voices of the Lupuscans raised as one, softly at first but gaining in strength until they, as Elhaz put it, shook the stones. Adhara and her pupil, Maple, launched into an acrobatic display feeling that this was a better outlet than their voices and Bracken strained the tune across her violin. Saiph raised his reed pipe to his lips and completed the aria, lifting his packs spirits onto a higher plain.

It had much the same effect on Remus as the night down by Colvarn and Elhaz's graves, except he found this time more deeply moving and transcendent. His own voice melded seamlessly into those of his pack.

Teachers hearing the commotion rushed down to the main entrance and were surprised by the mass of wolves that they saw. No one dared move until the song reached its climax and the Lupuscans came back to their senses.

Saiph and Elhaz opened their eyes at almost exactly the same moment and saw the crowd they had drawn to listen to their song. 'This is it, sister.'

'Aye, brother.'

The voices sounded in each others heads – the telepathic communication used amongst wolves, especially whilst hunting but useful in any situation when they didn't want to be heard by outside ears.

The faces that watched did not know what to do. Almost the entire faculty was present in one way or another and the two sides were caught in a stand-off. Eventually it was Dumbledore who broke the silence.

'Who are you and why have you come here?'

Saiph stepped forward, 'Professor Dumbledore, I presume? My name is Saiph and I am alpha external of the Lupuscan Circle.'

This hit like a massive explosion, several taking an unconscious step backwards in fear from the dread name. Dumbledore surveyed the scene below and looked into the eyes of two of his staff and four of his students in the midst of the wolves.

'And why have you taken hostages?'

'I have not.'

Bracken stepped forward, fierce pride in her eyes, 'No he hasn't, Professor. All you see here are Lupuscans of our own free will. Most of us owe Saiph our lives at one point or another and we would follow him to the end. The supporters of Lupus are not ones to back down easily.'

'And Storm?'

One of the greatest shocks was when Storm herself stepped forward, 'My name is Elhaz, Professor Dumbledore, and it was I who summoned my brothers and sisters back to this place. Our order is as old as this school and it is our rightful home. We wish to return to our rightful place to discuss the threat that has been laid at our door.'

'I might have known...' Severus Snape, like a demon of the night, stalked out from the midst of the body, 'There was always something odd about you. These are the servants of Voldemort, Albus, they are not to be trusted.'

Elhaz laughed, but Saiph was furious, 'Speak not of the servants of Voldemort to us, black one, you who would have killed one of our number for some mere transgression of no harm. Go back to the shadows where ones like you have forced us to live for so long.'

At this point the pounding of feet was clearly heard and someone barged their way through the faculty, 'Rachel, Rachel are you all right?' Poppy Pomphrey pushed her way to the front of the wolves to where she stood in front of Saiph, 'Is my daughter safe, Saiph?'

'Poppy, you know these wolves?' Professor McGonagall was stunned.

'Of course I know them, I've treated most of them for one thing or another. Saiph agreed to take my daughter in when no one else would. She got bitten by a werewolf, Professor Dumbledore, and luckily she had these friends who would accept her. Lupuscan or no I owe them.'

Adhara pushed her way forward, 'Here I am, Mum, I'm all right. We just really need to discuss things. It wasn't us who caused all that last night. We need to find out who did and clear our name.'

Saiph turned back to Dumbledore, 'She speaks true. The one eyed wolf spoken of was a Lupuscan, a Lupuscan rotten to the core. Sixteen years ago Elhaz and myself outcast that one, we marked him as one expelled from the circle for betraying his pack. That was how Fenris lost his eye. We must discuss our position and where to ally ourselves. If you mistrust us you may kill us where we stand, we shall not fight back.'

Elhaz whispered in her partner's ear and he nodded, 'Lupus can explain better than us.'

An odd, ululating chant began, the effort to raise Lupus. Many covered their ears at what, to them, was a deplorable racket. Lupus, however, did not think so. She passed through walls and bodies as her pack called for her. As soon as she appeared all wolves present bowed to her.

'Lupus, founder of the Goldeneyes, we honour you.'

The ghost of the white wolf was an odd sight to those who had never seen her.

'Greetings all. Why do my pack not hail me in the Hall of Dreams?'

'We are not allowed to pass.'

'I made this place for all to be open and you may not pass?'

'Show them who you are, Lupus, and see if we may not gain entry?'

The misty wolf subtly changed until the visage of a tall, stately lady showed. This image soon changed back to Lupus's chosen form.

'My Lady Ravenclaw,' Dumbledore bowed.

'Now will you let my children through, especially as an alpha is so perfectly wearing my colours.'

Elhaz's head reeled. She hadn't noticed it before, her whole body was decked in the colours of Ravenclaw. That meant that Colvarn's deathbed prophecy... oh fates.

A pathway opened for them to make their way to the Hall of Dreams and discuss their allegiance.

Dumbledore smiled to himself – he had found the true heirs of Ravenclaw.


	32. Set in Stone

The Hall of Dreams had not seen such a meeting in years. Every Lupuscan present found place either on one of the chairs or on the floor. Their normal cheerful mood was strangely absent and an air of solemnity hung over all. It was Elhaz who spoke first.

'For those of you who do not know me, I am Elhaz. I was alpha internal here up until sixteen years ago. For this my family was murdered and I was lost, until now. You have always been a family to me and now you are all I have. It is for this reason alone that I have called you here.

'Once again our way of life has been threatened by this.' The blue rith slammed the Daily Prophet down on the table, 'Fenris, an outcast wolf of our order, the one who joined He Who Must Not Be Named. We must decide where our loyalties lie truest and which is the best course of action to follow. I trust in your collective judgement and leave it for you to decide.'

Saiph stood and placed a letter on top of the paper, 'We have, again, received word from the Dark Lord himself. He makes an offer of everything we desire in return for our unquestioning loyalty and servitude. We must send him our answer tonight. If I could I would have liked the entire pack to be here, but that is impossible, we are scattered too far and wide, so we must send those who are absent our decision. Everybody's view shall be heard and no one shall be ridiculed or scorned for their honest opinion. That is my word as your alpha and I will make sure that it is carried out.'

Saiph gave the floor to anyone who wanted to take it, and Raq voiced her opinion first, 'The point I make is not what have we got to gain, but what have we got to lose? The last time we refused the offer we thought our leader had been killed, she was the one who signed the reply…'

Faol's gruff voice was mocking, 'Which was incredibly subtle.'

Underneath her fur Elhaz blushed, 'Okay, so I went a little overboard…'

'Never! You don't think calling him a evil, twisted, forked-tongued loony bastard was a bit excessive?'

Raq could see this going nowhere and gained order again, 'Whatever, my point is, we lost our leader, we lost one. But we did not lose our pride, our respect and we did not sully our name nor did we break the pack. For a thousand years we have stood for learning, trust and freedom for those who wish to seek us out. Do we honestly want to throw all that away for blood and slavery?

'Our name is dark to those who do not know us, and those who believe Fenris's lies and deceit. Perhaps that should change rather than our principles. Let the Lupuscans lead the charge against such things. If we vote to serve under anyone other than ourselves and I will be no longer a Lupuscan.'

Remus took his opportunity to speak, 'I have not known most of you long, but what I have seen and felt has changed me beyond what words can tell. Had anyone told me this time last year that werewolves could be civilised creatures with an honourable and bloodless code I would have called them a liar. And if anyone had told me that I would be a member of the Lupuscan Circle I would have laughed at them.

'But today I see you all as great friends to someone who has not known a lot of comfort or friendship in his life and I come with a warning: Join the Dark Lord and it shall never be forgotten. Because of Fenris we are already seen as evil, join him now and, come what may, we shall be reviled. Even if he wins now, at some point his power will be lost and where will that leave us? I have lost many friends in his rise to power the first time, and I cannot join him with a light conscience. Think hard and know that I am glad that some loner werewolf bit me as a child, despite the suffering I have incurred.'

Saiph's head was in his paws and he couldn't hide the truth any longer, 'Your bite was an accident. It shouldn't have happened when it did. The one who did bite you regretted it for the rest of his life. He knew what you would experience, for I too once experienced it, and he paid a heavy price for biting a child.'

'You knew him?'

'Of course I knew him. He was my father. My family have been werewolves for generations. He did not mean for you to get bitten. If a loner had attacked you, you would have been dead. Did you never wonder how you survived with nothing more than a small scar on your upper arm?'

'Who was he?'

'Those here knew him as Colvarn, our leader and mentor. I will speak to you more of this alone, but we must get back to the matter in hand.'

Talk lasted long into the night, each having their say, until a unanimous verdict was reached. Letters were written out to those not present and sealed in wax with the Lupuscan mark on – a full moon encircling a golden eye – warning the recipients not to open in a place where it can be easily read by others. These were carried to the owlery and sent on their way.

Some decided to rest in the Hall of Dreams, others disappeared out into the dawn lit forest and Elhaz, Saiph, Moony and Raq went to deliver their decision to Professor Dumbledore.

'Well, here goes.'

Raq said the password and the stone gargoyle leapt aside to reveal the spiral staircase. Elhaz and Saiph led the way.

Professor Dumbledore had waited up all night for the answer to come and knew it would come soon when he saw the flock of owls flying from the owlery. He had waited in silent contemplation. He had realised that there was a large group of werewolves around and had heavy suspicions that they were the Lupuscans. What he had not bargained with, however, was how deeply the influence had penetrated the school to include both teachers and students, and even the ghost of a founder. No one knew who the descendents of the four were, except for Voldemort being the heir of Slytherin, and his quest had been to find the others. It had been written that only combining the strength of the other three would the power of the one be broken. He hadn't realised that the heirs of Ravenclaw would be so unusual, and that there would be so many of them.

The knock came as expected on the solid oak door at the entrance to his private chambers and in strode Diana Hooch, Remus Lupin, his rith, Storm, and the large white wolf Saiph. He indicated that they should sit, and all four did so.

'Have you come to a decision?'

It was Saiph who acted as spokes-wolf, 'Aye, we have. The pack have met and discussed our options. We have thought long and hard and would not leave before we had a unanimous verdict. Last night we received word from the Dark Lord himself. He offered us great things in return for our loyalty. This is not the first time he has done this – on his rise to power last time he offered us much the same. We gave him the answer we gave him last time,' Dumbledore sighed, expecting the worst, 'We have refused.'

He looked Saiph directly in his golden eyes. The Lupuscans refused to aid Voldemort, but…

'I know what you think, Professor Dumbledore. No, the Lupuscan pack has never served him. An outcast of ours has and dragged our name down with him. We thought his punishment last time was enough of a warning, but once again Fenris has betrayed us. This is our matter and we shall deal with it. We will not become the slaves of evil and will lead the attack if you wish to have our power joined with yours. We have our honour and we will not stand idly in the shadows while another takes our glorious name in vain. If you do not want our alliance we will stand alone. What say you, Professor?'

A secret smile had crept across his wrinkled face and he held out a hand to the large wolf, 'I would be honoured to have you standing at my side, Saiph.'

'My father would be most pleased at this. I believe you knew him many years ago. His name was Odin Varulf.'

'Odin? Of course I remember him. That would make you Frey, wouldn't it?'

'That was the name my mother gave me.'

'And you are Elhaz?'

'I am. It was a pity that Voldemort's lackeys were not so well informed as to who they were looking for when they came looking to kill me as it might have saved my family.'

'Perhaps they were, but one of them managed to distract the rest. Now we must decide what to do.'

'Our task is clear. The Lupuscans must find as many loner werewolves as possible and ally them to us. If we don't find them first then Fenris's lies will turn them against us.'

'How many of you are there?'

'What we know of? Around the fifty mark I think would be accurate. But that's only the UK. I'm sure there are hundreds more all around the world, but at the moment they're rather out of reach so we must concentrate on those we can find.'

'I agree with that. How well connected are you?'

'We have some in the Ministry, we're scattered all over, Professor Dumbledore. We werewolves and Lupuscans are not all vicious, uncontrollable animals, although we're rather dangerous when riled. Most of us are just as normal as everyone else, despite often having a few extra appendages, eh, Raq?' Diana smiled as her tail flopped out into the open.

'And this Fenris?'

'That is our business. We cast him out and it did nothing, we marked him and yet still he betrayed our name, I think it is time he learned a more permanent lesson. I will do this personally.' The cold glint in Saiph's warm eyes disclosed a fiercer streak in his heart. Dumbledore was glad that they were on the same side, and that he was not the wolf who had betrayed his brothers.

'I will accompany you.'

'No, Elhaz, it is best if they do not know that you have survived. You will be our secret weapon in this fight. Stay as alpha while I am gone, the youngsters will need your guidance for your suffering has given you much wisdom.'

'I agree. I need to speak to you about many things. What a kick in the face it will be when Voldemort finds out that someone he sent his assassins to kill several years ago has been living in one of his key Death Eaters' houses for the past thirteen years.'

Elhaz nodded her slightly unwilling agreement. She wanted to see Fenris get his come-uppance once and for all, but she was still not right and she figured it was best to rest a while longer before joining her brothers in battle. Plus she had some serious thinking to do about old prophecies suddenly being fulfilled.

The golden sun had just risen above the horizon, casting long shadows that early summer dawn, and Elhaz and Saiph made their way down to Elhaz's dungeon home where they would not be disturbed. There she spilled out the countless years of suffering she had experienced and wept into the warm arms of the white wolf who shed tears in empathetic understanding. She'd changed so much in those years, she seemed so fragile now, but there was a core of steel in her that wouldn't bend where most others would have folded. But, as his father had often said, knowing the darkest reaches of your soul and where torment can lead you often makes for a stronger leader.

Oh yes, in her youth there were few that could match her at many things, and for that she often felt the cruel stab of jealousy. Before she met Lupus she had been quiet, timid, but afterwards there had been nothing to hold her back. Such was Lupus's great influence. But for this her family had been murdered and the Lupuscan's greatest weakness had become their greatest strength. He knew that Voldemort would not have looked for a child when searching for an alpha. She had been tortured, and cruelly so, but she had survived and when she came to show herself again it would be a blow, and one from which their opponents might not recover.

Elhaz eventually fell asleep in his arms and he settled himself down to rest. The time of the Lupuscans was fast approaching, to death or to glory, they would not turn back.

Albus Dumbledore stared at the rising sun and wondered what it all meant. He knew the blue rith's true identity from the moment she opened her mouth and wondered how she could have survived such an attack, and how she came to be what she was. There were too many questions and so few answers. There was also another problem on the way and he frowned as he thought on how to counter it. If he recognised Enyana then there was no doubt that Sirius would, and he would arrive by nightfall.


End file.
